ČSA Flight 001

Czechoslovak Airlines Flight 001 was an Ilyushin Il-18B four engine turboprop airliner, registered OK-NAB, which was operating as a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Prague's Ruzyně airport to Bratislava-Ivanka Airport, both in Czechoslovakia, which crashed into the Zlaté Piesky (Golden Sands) Lake while attempting to land in Bratislava on July 28, 1976. All 6 crew members and 70 out of 73 passengers died.

Crash

The flight departed Prague airport at 8:52 (CEST) and proceeded routinely to Bratislava. At 9:35:10 (CEST) the flight was cleared by Bratislava tower to land on runway 22. For reasons that are unclear, the crew executed a highly unstabilized ILS instrument approach to runway 22, with rates of descent as high as 4,320 fpm or 22 m/s instead of 10 m/s; speeds varying from 225 to 435 km/h instead of 269 km/h; and flap selection directly from 0 degree to full flaps instead of in gradual increments. As they approached the runway, the crew inadvertently set thrust reversal at the no. 2 and no. 3 engine (inboard engines) while still airborne. The thrust reversal caused the no. 3 engine to fail and the crew then inadvertently feathered the no. 4 prop, losing all thrust on the right side of the aircraft. At 50 m above the runway threshold the crew attempted to execute a go-around. They tried to restart the no. 4 engine at 40 m, but the ensuing right bank due to asymmetric thrust increased; the aircraft then lost control and struck lake Zlaté Piesky (Golden Sands) in a 60 degree right bank and a 60 degree nose down attitude.