1970 Atlantic Ocean Antonov An-22 crash
Soviet Air Forces Antonov An-22 · Unknown; possible propeller separation leading to explosive decompression
From Ivanovo Severny Air Base, Ivanovo, Soviet Union to Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM)
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
- 22 · 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
- Military
Antonov An-22
- Aircraft type
- Antonov AN-22
- 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-09303
- Operator
- Soviet Air Forces
- Onboard fatalities
- 22
- Route
- From Ivanovo Severny Air Base, Ivanovo, Soviet UnionTo Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM)
Cause areas
- Not determined › Not determined
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
On July 18 1970, an Antonov An-22 of Soviet Air Forces crashed in the Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and Greenland, while on its way to Halifax, Canada. It was the first crash of the Antonov An-22 model and it resulted in the deaths of all 22 people on board.
Background and flight
Following the 1970 Ancash earthquake, which killed tens of thousands of people and destroyed many cities in Peru, the 81st Military Transport Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces participated in the transport of humanitarian aid to that country. The unit operated heavy-lift aircraft, among them the Antonov An-22.
Due to the limited range and heavy cargo of food and seven passengers, the flight plan called for the aircraft to make several stops while on its way to Peru. Since the flight was longer than 17,000 km, two crews were used for the flight. This also served as a training opportunity for the pilots.
Crash
On 18 July the aircraft took off from Keflavik airport in Iceland on its way to Halifax. Forty-seven minutes after the aircraft took off, at 14:30 all contact with it was lost and it disappeared from radar screens. As the crew did not respond to communication from the air traffic controllers and no airport recorded the aircraft landing, it was presumed that the aircraft had crashed in the ocean. Soon after a search and rescue operation began together with NATO aircraft and a Soviet Antonov An-12. During the search pieces of the aircraft were found, confirming that it had indeed crashed. No survivors were found.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
Following the inspection of recovered pieces of the aircraft, an in-flight fire was ruled out. The Soviet Ministry of Aviation Production made a hypothesis that an uncontrolled decompression had occurred, the cause of which has never been fully established.
Five months after the crash of CCCP-09303, a sister aircraft crashed in India, killing all 17 on board. The cause of that crash was the separation of one of the propeller blades, which struck the fuselage of the aircraft and caused an explosive decompression. It is believed that this was most likely also the cause of the crash of CCCP-09303 in the Atlantic.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1970 Atlantic Ocean Antonov An-22 crash” (revision 1364781865, 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: 1970 Atlantic Ocean Antonov An-22 crash
- Revision
- 1364781865 · 2026-07-18 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q18398555
- 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 "1970 Atlantic Ocean Antonov An-22 crash" (page 57325211, revision 1364781865)
- 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
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- 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.