1941 Aeroflot accident near Saratov
Lisunov PS-84 · Loss of control due to crossed control cables after maintenance
From Saratov Airport, Soviet Union to Saratov Airport, Soviet Union
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
- 1 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 3
- 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
- 3
- 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
Lisunov PS-84
- Aircraft type
- Lisunov PS-84
- 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-L3989
- Operator
- Aeroflot
- Onboard fatalities
- 1
- Route
- From Saratov Airport, Soviet UnionTo Saratov Airport, Soviet Union
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft handling/service
- Organizational issues › Support/oversight/monitoring
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Saratov Central Airport, the airport the Wikipedia article names as the site. Where on or near it is not known.
From the Wikipedia article
The accident of Aeroflot Lisunov Li-2 CCCP-L3989 occurred on 29 November 1941, when an Aeroflot Lisunov Li-2 crashed immediately after take-off on a test flight. Of the four occupants, one person died.
Accident sequence
During the night of 7 to 8 November 1941, the aircraft involved was exposed to a severe storm at Saratov Airport, as a result of which the tail unit and the ailerons were damaged. The aircraft was then extensively repaired on site between 8 and 28 November.
On 29 November a test flight was to be undertaken with the fully repaired aircraft. For this, four crew members took their seats in the aircraft. During the initial climb, the captain steered the aircraft to the left, but in response to this control input it rolled to the right and crashed to the ground. One crew member died in the accident; the other three survived with injuries.
Investigation and cause
Cause
It turned out that the control cables for the ailerons had been swapped during maintenance. As a result, in response to the leftward control input the aircraft steered in the opposite direction, i.e. to the right. Poor supervision of the maintenance work was cited as a contributing factor.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall der Aeroflot bei Saratow 1941” (revision 256797812, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
German Wikipedia article: Flugunfall der Aeroflot bei Saratow 1941
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 256797812 · 2025-06-08 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q118869215
- 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
- de Wikipedia article "Flugunfall der Aeroflot bei Saratow 1941" (page 12572713, revision 256797812), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- airport 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
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): An Aeroflot Li-2 on a test flight after repairs: a state airline's own test flight. The article: "an Aeroflot Lisunov Li-2 crashed immediately after take-off on a test flight"
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.