Aeroflot Flight 10 (1957)
Ilyushin Il-12P and Unknown · Loss of control
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
- 27 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 0
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
Aircraft 1 · Ilyushin Il-12P
- Aircraft type
- Ilyushin IL-12
- 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-L1309
- Operator
- Aeroflot
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Khabarovsk Novy Airport (KHV)To Vnukovo International Airport (VKO)
Aircraft 2 · Unknown
- 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
- Unknown
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From not recordedTo not recorded
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft structures
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 18 December 1957, an Ilyushin Il-12 crashed while operating Aeroflot Flight 10, a Soviet domestic flight from Khabarovsk to Moscow-Vnukovo with a stopover in Magdagachi. As a result, all 27 occupants were killed.
Sequence of events
The pilots requested taxi clearance to the runway. Because it was very gusty that day (20–24 m/s, meaning the wind was blowing at up to 86 km/h), a rudder lock was necessary. The air traffic controller then asked whether it had been fitted,
but the pilots insisted on taxiing without it. The controller then ordered it to be fitted. When the pilots said they were ready, the controller gave clearance in the belief that the pilots had complied with his instruction. Eyewitnesses later reported having seen the aircraft without the lock.
At 11:58 the Il-12 finally took off. When the pilots were asked about the take-off conditions, they initially ignored the question. At the second request the answer was “не мешайте” (“[Please] do not disturb”) and shortly afterwards (“очень плохие”) (“very bad”). The crew of another Il-12 (CCCP-Л1346) observed the aircraft that later crashed heading towards the airport instead of flying away. Apparently Captain Lopatikov wanted to return because of a problem, but then decided to continue the flight.
At 12:24 the pilots reported that the rudder control had failed and, when asked, decided to land in Arkhara, since it was too windy in Khabarovsk. After the message also arrived in Khabarovsk and they passed it on, they did not use their full radar to be able to track the aircraft on the screen.
At 12:35 the pilots reported that they had already overflown Birobidzhan 3 minutes earlier at 2,100 m. The controller asked them to switch their radio to ultra-shortwave. After that, contact was lost.
Investigation and cause
Cause
A search was launched, but it remained unsuccessful. During the inspection of another Il-12 (CCCP-Л1330), which had been parked at the same angle to the wind, damage to the rudder was found. A gust had caused it to deflect fully on the ground, even before the take-off of Flight 10. On the basis of the damage and the pilots' report that the rudder control had failed, it was concluded that, because of the damage, the rudder had been merely dangling loosely. In the midst of the turbulence it had then torn off.
Finally, on 15 June 1958, the wreckage was found on a forested slope of Mount Poktoy steeper than 45°, 30 km west of Birobidzhan. The traces at the site confirmed the investigators' assumptions. It was shown that the rudder had failed in flight, having been weakened by damage it had sustained on the ground. The damage, like that on the Il-12 (CCCP-Л1330), was said to have been caused by a strong gust of wind.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Aeroflot-Flug 10 (1957)” (revision 261472099, 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: Aeroflot-Flug 10 (1957)
- Article
- Aeroflot-Flug 10 (1957)
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 261472099 · 2025-11-11 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q18398581
- 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 "Aeroflot-Flug 10 (1957)" (page 13602849, revision 261472099), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article 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
- flight number in the article title
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: total_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.