Aeroflot Flight 773

Aeroflot Flight 773 was a scheduled domestic Soviet Union passenger flight from Moscow to Simferopol that crashed following a bomb explosion on 10 October 1971.

Accident sequence

The aircraft arrived at Moscow from Simferopol at 19:02, after which the aircraft was prepared for the return trip to Simferopol. Weather conditions at the time were overcast with low clouds and a visibility of 6 kilometers. Flight 773 took off from Vnukovo Airport at 20:16. Thirty-one seconds later the crew contacted ATC and reported that they were heading for Chornaya Gryaz. The controller ordered the aircraft to climb to 1500 m. At 20:16:44 the controller contacted Flight 773 asking them if they had passed through 1200 m, but there was no response. The controller attempted several times to contact the crew without success.

Just seconds after the crew reported to the controller about the takeoff, an explosion tore through the aircraft, damaging the left side of the fuselage and supports to the left wing and severing control cables to the tail. The aircraft began rolling to the right with a loss of altitude. Seven kilometers from the airport at 150 - 200 m the cargo hold collapsed and some passenger seats were thrown out. Some 2700 m later, the aircraft crashed at a speed of 550 - 600 km/h at an angle of 10-14° in a 90° right bank near the village of Baranovo, Naro-Fominsky District, some 10 km southwest of Vnukovo Airport. All 25 people on board died, including film actress Raisa Zvereva.