Aeroflot Flight 315 (1959)
Antonov An-10 · Icing, loss of control
From Vnukovo International Airport (VKO) to Lviv International Airport (LWO)
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
- 40 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- 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
Antonov An-10
- Aircraft type
- Antonov AN-10
- 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-11167
- Operator
- Aeroflot
- Onboard fatalities
- 40
- Route
- From Vnukovo International Airport (VKO)To Lviv International Airport (LWO)
Cause areas
- Organizational issues › Development
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.
From the Wikipedia article
Aeroflot Flight 315 was a scheduled passenger flight from Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Soviet Union, to Lviv Airport in Lviv, Ukraine. On 16 November 1959, the Antonov An-10 flying this route crashed short of the airport runway while on final approach. All 32 passengers and eight crew members were killed. The Air Accident Investigation Commission concluded the cause of the accident was a combination of design flaw and icing.
Accident
Flight 315 departed Vnukovo Airport at 16:48 Moscow time, and was cleared to climb to 7,000 meters. As the airliner approached Lviv, the weather was reported as temperature -1 degree C, humidity 97% with visibility at three km and the possibility of icing conditions. The descent was normal and the pilot reported reaching the outer marker at an altitude of 200 meters. Before reaching the inner marker, the aircraft descended out of the clouds and the crew switched to visual flight rules (VFR). At 19:06 while descending through 110 meters, the flaps were set to 45 degrees and the Antonov began a rapid pitch down. 2,100 meters from the runway and in a 25 degree nose down attitude, the aircraft crashed, flipped over and burst into flames. The impact and post-crash fire killed all on board.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
After examination of available evidence, the Air Accident Investigation Commission concluded that an anomaly in the engine power control system combined with substandard placement of other cockpit controls may have been a factor in the crash. They went on to speculate that the pilot in command (PIC) may have reduced power because pitot tube icing caused the airspeed indicator to read higher than actual airspeed.
On 26 February 1960 approximately three months after this accident, another An-10 operating the same flight crashed during similar conditions. Testing eventually revealed that icing of the horizontal stabilizer created a supercritical angle of attack, that caused a sudden pitch down of the aircraft when the flaps are lowered to the maximum setting of 45 degrees. To combat this concern ice protection systems for the stabilizer were improved and selection of flaps beyond 15 degrees in known icing conditions was disallowed.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Aeroflot Flight 315 (1959)” (revision 1368093465, 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 315 (1959)
- Article
- Aeroflot Flight 315 (1959)
- Revision
- 1368093465 · 2026-08-07 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q16662322
- 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 315 (1959)" (page 57137225, revision 1368093465)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- none
- 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.