Aeroflot Flight A-547

On 8 August 1973 a Yakovlev Yak-40 on the Soviet domestic scheduled flight Aeroflot Flight A-547 from Arkhangelsk to Kotlas crashed during takeoff, killing one of the 31 occupants.

Sequence of events

At approx. 15:57 the pilots accelerated for takeoff on heading 262° (west), after having checked the control systems in accordance with the flight manual, according to their own statement. When they raised the nose gear on reaching a speed of 160 km/h, Captain Ivanov noticed that the elevators were locked. Instead of aborting the takeoff, he instructed First Officer Levkov to check the control lock, while he himself tried several times to release it. The Yak-40 overran the 2,250 m runway and the 400 m safety zone beyond it and rolled across the bush-covered terrain. After 314 m it struck the localizer antenna and after 116 m a building of the instrument landing system, tearing off the left wing and damaging the building. A further 55 m beyond that, the aircraft collided with a concrete fence post, tearing off the right wing and deforming the cockpit. Finally, the now wingless aircraft rolled another 116 m on muddy ground before it came to a standstill and caught fire, which was later extinguished by the rescue services.

Passengers and crew were then evacuated from the aircraft. Captain Ivanov, flight engineer Popov and 11 passengers were injured in the accident, while First Officer Levkov died.