Aeroflot Flight 112

On 2 January 1965, a Lisunov Li-2 crashed on the second leg of the domestic Soviet scheduled flight Aeroflot Flight 111/112 in the Turkmen Soviet Republic from Aşgabat to Tashauz (today Daşoguz) and back again, killing all 24 occupants. To this day (January 2021) the incident is the deadliest aviation accident in Turkmenistan.

Circumstances and course of the accident

On 1 January 1965, one day before the accident, the Li-2 took off in Aşgabat at 13:05 and landed at 14:58 in Tashauz, in order to set off again on the return flight at around 15:38. Because the weather in Aşgabat deteriorated during the flight, the pilots received the instruction at 16:10 to divert to the alternate airport Derweze, whereupon they landed there at 16:35. The occupants spent the following night in Derweze. The next morning, 2 January, the first officer prepared the departure, testing the engines and, with the help of the local airport staff, checking the remaining quantity of fuel still available. When the aircraft was on the runway, the local air traffic controller, although he had no information about loading, takeoff weight or the fuel quantity, gave takeoff clearance, which violated the established procedure. The Li-2 then accelerated on heading 165° and then took off at 9:57 local time, with a visibility of 20 km and a wind of 2 m/s from direction 70°. While still climbing, both engines failed 1–2 min after takeoff and the aircraft lost altitude without power. Shortly afterwards, almost without pitch and with a bank angle of 30° to the left, it crashed into sand dunes located 4 km from Derweze Airport and 600 m to the right of the runway centreline, and caught fire.