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1942 Aeroflot Tupolev ANT-20bis crash

14 Dec 1942 · 86 km southwest of Tashkent

Tupolev PS-124 · Crew errors, loss of control

From Urgench, Uzbek SSR to Tashkent, Uzbek SSR

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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
36 · 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

Tupolev PS-124

Aircraft type
Tupolev PS-124
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
СССР-Л760
Operator
Aeroflot
Onboard fatalities
36
Route
From Urgench, Uzbek SSRTo Tashkent, Uzbek SSR

Cause areas

  • Personnel issues › Action/decision
  • Personnel issues › Task performance
  • Personnel issues › Psychological

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 14 December 1942, a Tupolev ANT-20bis aircraft operated by Soviet airline Aeroflot crashed during a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Urgench to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. All 36 people on board died, and the accident was due to a loss of control.

Flight

On 12 December the aircraft flew from Urgench to Chardzhou (now Türkmenabat) with 85 passengers and 1925 kg of cargo, piloted by I. I. Govyaz. Two days later at 11:50, the aircraft took off for Tashkent with 26 passengers and 10 crew, flying at 500 m. Two hours and ten minutes into the flight, the aircraft suddenly pitched down and entered a steep dive, crashing into the ground at an 80° angle in the steppe 3 km northeast of the "Pakhta-Aral" state farm (86 km southwest of Tashkent Airport). None of the 36 on board survived.

Investigation and cause

Investigation

Govyaz had allowed a passenger, Kozlov (also a pilot), to take control of the aircraft. Co-pilot Tropikov was to look after Kozlov while Govyaz left the cockpit. Kozlov somehow managed to activate the trimmer for the horizontal stabilizer, increasing its angle and sending the aircraft into a dive. Neither Kozlov nor Tropikov were able to regain control of the aircraft due to confusion and the aircraft's low altitude.

Text from the Wikipedia article “1942 Aeroflot Tupolev ANT-20bis crash” (revision 1374521254, 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: 1942 Aeroflot Tupolev ANT-20bis crash
Article
1942 Aeroflot Tupolev ANT-20bis crash
Revision
1374521254 · 2026-09-12 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q18235785
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 "1942 Aeroflot Tupolev ANT-20bis crash" (page 77337905, revision 1374521254)
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 is an airline according to Wikidata
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.