Aeroflot Flight 3843
Tupolev Tu-104A · Left engine fire leading to a loss of flight controls
From Khabarovsk Novy Airport (KHV) to Alma-Ata Airport
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 90 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 90
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Tupolev Tu-104A
- Aircraft type
- Tupolev TU-104
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- CCCP-42369
- Operator
- Aeroflot
- Onboard fatalities
- 90
- Route
- From Khabarovsk Novy Airport (KHV)To Alma-Ata Airport
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
Aeroflot Flight 3843 was a Soviet Union commercial flight that crashed on January 13, 1977, after a left engine fire near Alma-Ata Airport. All 90 people on board perished in the crash.
A team of youth hockey players, who were scheduled to be on the flight, did not board the flight because of the postponement of a competition.
Accident sequence
Flight 3843 was a service from Khabarovsk to Almaty via Novosibirsk. The aircraft departed for the second leg of its flight from Novosibirsk at 17:13 on January 13, 1977. At 40 km from Almaty airport the aircraft was at an altitude of 2100 m. Witnesses noticed the left engine of the aircraft on fire about 15 km from the airport. With the wing still on fire, it then climbed from about 600 ft to 1000 ft before diving and exploding in a snow-covered field. The sky above the airport at the time was clear, although due to the haze visibility was at 1850 m. The aircraft hit the ground at an angle of 28° with a roll, at a speed of 150 - 190 km/h and rotated 200-210° with respect to the runway axis. The fuselage broke in two; the front part of the fuselage sank into the ground 2 m. The rear of the fuselage with the tail assembly was pushed back 18 m and not burned in the fire. Forensic examinations showed that the passengers were exposed to carbon monoxide during the flight.
The plane hit the ground with enough force that the bodies of the victims could not be identified.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The accident board found the aircraft's left engine had been subjected to fire for 10–15 minutes. The fire increased upon slowing down to land due to a decrease in the air flow, damaging the controls. The aircraft stalled and crashed three kilometers short of the airport.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Aeroflot Flight 3843” (revision 1339315969, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Aeroflot Flight 3843
- Article
- Aeroflot Flight 3843
- Revision
- 1339315969 · 2026-02-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q16488150
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Aeroflot Flight 3843" (page 51261746, revision 1339315969)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- flight number in the article title
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.