1990 Dubenec Tupolev Tu-154 crash
Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154M · Forced landing due to in-flight fire
From EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL) to Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO)
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
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 6
- Survivors
- 6
- 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
- 6
- 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 Tu-154M
- Aircraft type
- Tupolev TU-154
- 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-85664
- Operator
- Aeroflot
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL)To Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO)
Cause areas
- Not determined › Not determined
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Dubenec (Trutnov District), near the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
On 17 November 1990, a Tupolev Tu-154M operated by Aeroflot suffered in-flight fire during a cargo flight from Basel, Switzerland to Moscow, USSR. The aircraft performed an emergency landing in a field near the village of Dubenec; the incident was known as the "Cigarette Flight". All 6 crew members on board survived albeit with injuries sustained in the fire such as smoke inhalation. All six made a full recovery.
Background
The aircraft involved was a Tupolev Tu-154M, registration CCCP-85664, manufactured in 1989. On October 11, 1990, it was handed to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and transferred to Aeroflot.
The flight crew consisted of:
Captain - Viktor Vasilyevich Stolyarov
First Officer - Sergey Osipov
Navigator - Rashid Almeshev
Flight engineer - Vladimir Andreevich Ilyin
Flight operator - Sergey Ilyashenko
Inspector - Leonid Dmitrievich Khaiko
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The flight recorders, nor did any of the sensors onboard the aircraft, did not detect any fire onboard, which could have explained why the fire warning bell in the cockpit did not go off. The only evidence that a fire was present on the aircraft were the soot-stained belongings of the crew members, as well as the erratic movements of the airliner during descent, typical of pilot disorientation. The maximum vertical speed was 20 m/s, meaning an emergency descent was not initiated.
The investigators were unable to determine the exact cause of the fire with the most likely source being an electric stove in the right galley of the aircraft. One of the boxes of cigarettes activated a switch on the electric stove due to vibrations generated by the aircraft which heated another box of cigarettes sitting on the stove, causing it to ignite.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1990 Dubenec Tupolev Tu-154 crash” (revision 1371953498, 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: 1990 Dubenec Tupolev Tu-154 crash
- Revision
- 1371953498 · 2026-08-29 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q16532412
- 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 "1990 Dubenec Tupolev Tu-154 crash" (page 83427186, revision 1371953498)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata coordinates)
- 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.