Aeroflot Flight 315 (1960)

Aeroflot Flight 315 was a scheduled passenger flight from Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, Soviet Union, to Kyiv-Zhuliany Airport in Kyiv, Ukraine, with a stopover at Lviv Airport in Lviv, Ukraine. On 26 February 1960, the Antonov An-10 flying this route crashed short of the airport runway while on final approach. 24 passengers and eight crew members were killed, one passenger survived. The Air Accident Investigation Commission concluded that the cause of the accident was a combination of a design flaw and tail icing.

Accident

Flight 315 departed Vnukovo Airport at 14:38 (2:38 PM) Moscow time, and was cleared to climb to 7,000 meters (aprox 22,960 ft). At 16:35 (4:35 PM), as the airliner approached Lviv, the crew received clearance to descend to 4,000 meters (13,100 ft). Weather was reported as a cloud base of 150-200 meters(about 490-650 ft) in icing conditions with visibility at three km. The descent was normal and the pilot reported reaching the marker beacon at an altitude of 200 meters(650 ft), the flight was then cleared to land. When the aircraft penetrated the cloud base, the crew switched to visual flight rules (VFR). While descending through 95 meters (310 ft), the flaps were set to 45 degrees and the Antonov began a rapid pitch down. The crew briefly regained control, but the nose pitched down again and at 16:57(4:57 PM) impacted the ground 1,400 meters (around 4600 ft) short of the runway, with a pitch down attitude of 20-25 degrees.