Bolkhovitinov DB-A

Polyarnaya Aviatsiya

The crew was performing a transpolar flight from Moscow to New York with intermediate stops in Fairbanks and Chicago. While flying probably over the north part of Siberia, maybe over the Arctic Ocean, the aircraft disappeared as all radio communications ceased. Important SAR operations were conducted but all search were eventually suspended as no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found. Among the six aviators was the famous Soviet aviation pioneer Sigismond Levanevsky. Crew: Sigismond Levanevsky, captain, Nikolai Kastanayev, second pilot, Nikolai Galkovsky, radio operator, Grigory Pobezhimov, flight engineer, Nikolai Godovikov, flight engineer, Viktor Levchenko, navigator.