Aeroflot Flight 331
|
An Aeroflot Il-62M similar to the one involved in the accident is seen here on approach to London Heathrow Airport in 1983 | |
| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 27 May 1977 |
| Summary | Pilot error |
| Site |
Off José Martí International Airport 22°59′21″N 82°24′33″W / 22.98917°N 82.40917°WCoordinates: 22°59′21″N 82°24′33″W / 22.98917°N 82.40917°W |
| Passengers | 61 |
| Crew | 9 |
| Fatalities | 69 (1 on ground) |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 2 |
| Survivors | 2 |
| Aircraft type | Ilyushin Il-62M |
| Operator | Aeroflot |
| Registration | СССР-86614 |
| Flight origin | Sheremetyevo International Airport |
| 1st stopover | Frankfurt Airport |
| Last stopover | Lisbon Airport |
| Destination | José Martí International Airport |
Aeroflot Flight 331,[1] refers to an Ilyushin Il-62M, registration СССР-86614, that was operated by the International Civil Aviation Directorate of Aeroflot as an international scheduled Moscow–Frankfurt–Lisbon–Havana passenger service, and crashed approximately 1 km (0.62 mi) away from José Martí International Airport, Havana, Cuba, on 27 May 1977 after it hit power lines on its final approach to the airport in poor weather.[2][3] It was disclosed the aircraft was attempting an emergency landing, having one of its engines on fire.[3][4] Only two of the 70 occupants on board survived; another person on the ground was also killed.[2]
At the time the accident took place it was the deadliest aviation accident in Cuba's history; as of August 2012, it remains the second deadliest one,[2] behind Cubana Flight 9646.[5] The cause of the crash was determined as pilot error according to the official report.
The only two survivors of the crash were a West German woman and a Soviet man.[4] One of the victims was José Carlos Schwarz, a poet and musician from Guinea-Bissau. Another was the Australian solicitor and Aboriginal Legal Service pioneer Peter Tobin.[6]
See also
Soviet Union portal
Aviation portal- Aeroflot accidents and incidents in the 1970s
References
- ↑ Катастрофа Ил-62М ЦУ МВС близ Гаваны (Куба) [Accident Il-62M Havana] (in Russian). airdisaster.ru. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- 1 2 3 Accident description for CCCP-86614 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 3 September 2011.
- 1 2 "Airline accidents". Flight International: 1689. 11 June 1977. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013.
It is reported that the aircraft struck a power line while attempting an emergency landing in fog.
- 1 2 "Soviet Jet Crashes; 66 Die". Nashua Telegraph. Mexico City. Associated Press. 28 May 1977. p. 1.
- ↑ "Accident record for Cuba". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ↑ Anne Summers and David Marr, "One white man who won the trust of Aborigines", National Times (6–11 June 1977), p.24.
Further reading
- "Flight Safety 1977 – Fatal accidents: Scheduled flights". Flight International: 182. 21 January 1978. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013.