Moscow – Kazan – Chelyabinsk – Kostanay – Karaganda

On September 20, 1949 at 04:05 AM, Moscow – Kazan – Chelyabinsk – Kostanay – Karaganda experienced a crash involving Ilyushin II-12, operated by Aeroflot - Russian International Airlines, with the event recorded near Savasleyka AFB Nizhny Novgorod oblast.

The flight was categorized as cargo and the reported phase was flight at a plain, valley crash site.

4 people were known to be on board, 3 fatalities were recorded, 1 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 75.0%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The crew was performing a cargo flight from Moscow to Karaganda with intermediate stops in Kazan, Chelyabinsk and Kostanay, carrying a load of various goods consisting of an industrial furnace (765 kg), theater sets, brass tubes (1,030 kg) and electrical equipment (695 kg). While cruising by night at an altitude of 1,800 meters, the flight engineer spotted some flames coming out from the left engine. The crew made several tests and controls, the captain reduced his altitude to 1,500 meters but eventually decided to continue. About an hour later, while flying at an altitude of 3,000 meters, the left engine failed. In such conditions, the pilot was unable to maintain a safe height and the aircraft descended until it hit some tree tops and crashed in a wooded area located on the top of a hill some 22 km east of Mourom, 12 km north of Savasleyka. Three crew members were killed while a fourth was seriously injured.

Aircraft reference details include registration CCCP-L1462, MSN 8 302 60 4, year of manufacture 0.