1957 Romanian Ilyushin Il-14 crash
People's Republic of Romania Ilyushin Il-14P · Controlled flight into terrain
From Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport (OTP) to Vnukovo International Airport (VKO)
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
- 4 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 12
- 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
- Government
Ilyushin Il-14P
- Aircraft type
- Ilyushin IL-14
- 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
- YR-PCC
- Operator
- People's Republic of Romania
- Onboard fatalities
- 4
- Route
- From Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport (OTP)To Vnukovo International Airport (VKO)
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
- Personnel issues › Experience/knowledge
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 4 November 1957, an Ilyushin Il-14 operated by the Romanian government crashed on approach to Vnukovo International Airport. Of the 16 people on board, four were killed, including Grigore Preoteasa, the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs. The cause was determined to be pilot error.
Accident
The aircraft took off from Bucharest at 9:48 (Moscow time) and arrived at its stopover, Kiev, at 12:31, where the aircraft was refueled. At 15:27 the flight departed Kiev for Moscow, with estimated time of arrival at 18:00.
At 17:48, the Il-14 entered the Vnukovo area. The crew conducted an instrument approach owing to the adverse weather conditions (fog, low visibility). Clearing the inner marker, the pilot sighted the runway lights. At the same time, the controller noticed that the aircraft was at insufficient altitude and instructed the pilot to maintain altitude. However, this was not acknowledged and the Il-14 continued descending.
The aircraft struck trees and crashed in a wooded area short of the runway at 17:58. Preoteasa, who was not wearing a seatbelt, and Hriucalov were killed in the crash. Sleacov and Pavlicov later succumbed to their injuries. The rest of the occupants received injuries of varying degrees.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
Alexei Kosygin led the investigation of the crash. The aircraft was in working conditions before and during the flight. The pilot-in-command had conducted a test flight on 2 November, however the Il-14 was flown without a co-pilot or navigator.
The investigation determined the cause to be pilot error. Upon passing the inner marker, Sleacov had been focused on the runway lights and continued descending against the given commands. Lack of training was cited as a contributing factor. Sleacov had falsified the crew's qualifications. In reality, the crew was unprepared for a landing in such weather conditions. The crew and the aircraft had not been checked before the flight.
It has been theorized that the crash was a Soviet plot to assassinate either Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej or Nicolae Ceaușescu. Gheorghiu-Dej was not present on the flight due to health reasons.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1957 Romanian Ilyushin Il-14 crash” (revision 1363826873, 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: 1957 Romanian Ilyushin Il-14 crash
- Revision
- 1363826873 · 2026-07-12 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q18237557
- 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 "1957 Romanian Ilyushin Il-14 crash" (page 83187154, revision 1363826873)
- 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
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): The aircraft was operated by the Romanian government and carried the Minister of Foreign Affairs, with no air force named: state transport, a government flight. The article: "an Ilyushin Il-14 operated by the Romanian government crashed on approach to Vnukovo International Airport"
- 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.