Il-18 crash in Alma-Ata (1966)

The 1966 Il-18 crash in Alma-Ata was an air disaster that occurred on the morning of Tuesday, 22 November 1966 at Alma-Ata airport. An Il-18B airliner of the Alma-Ata Joint Aviation Detachment of Aeroflot was beginning to operate scheduled passenger flight Kh-19 on the Alma-Ata — Semipalatinsk — Omsk — Moscow route, but during takeoff from Alma-Ata airport the airliner's engine No. 3 (inner right) failed. A yawing moment arose which swung the airliner round, after which it struck a mound, plunged into a river and broke into two parts. Of the 68 people on board — 60 passengers and 8 crew members — three were killed and 65 survived.

Chronology of events

That day the sky over Alma-Ata was covered with cumulonimbus clouds, wet snow was falling and there was haze. The runway was covered with slush about 1—3 centimetres deep, and soon an engineer of the line maintenance workshop contacted the commander of the aviation detachment and reported that during aircraft takeoffs a large amount of spray was observed, which threatened to get into the engines. The commander of the aviation detachment then decided to dispatch the two Il-18 aircraft already prepared (USSR-75882 and USSR-75665), after which the runway would be cleared. The first was aircraft USSR-75882, which took off without remarks.

Next to take off was to be flight Kh-19, which that day was operated by Il-18B aircraft USSR-75665, flying from Alma-Ata to Semipalatinsk and then as flight 102 from Semipalatinsk to Moscow with an intermediate stop in Omsk. In total there were 68 people on board: 60 passengers (with a passenger capacity of 95 seats) and 8 crew members.

Crash

At 10:35 the crew reported ready for takeoff on a heading of 50°. After receiving clearance, at 10:36 the takeoff run was started, and in the course of it engine No. 3 (inner right) shut down and its propeller feathered, but the crew did not detect this. After running 150 metres straight along the runway, the aircraft, owing to the resulting thrust imbalance, deviated to the right at an angle of 1—2°. After another 400 metres, at a speed of 160 km/h, the right bogie ran onto the ground, by which time the aircraft had deviated from the takeoff heading by as much as 7°. But when the aircraft ran onto the ground, the commander decided not to abort the takeoff. At the same time he did not know that one of the propellers on the right wing was feathered, that is, that thrust had fallen by a quarter. The nose gear had been lifted off the ground as the Il-18 continued to accelerate on three engines across grass covered with a 7-centimetre layer of snow.

The crew commander knew that there was a ravine ahead, so at a speed of 180 km/h he pulled the control column back to the stop, hoping to lift the aircraft off the ground. But instead, owing to insufficient speed, 704 metres from the point where it left the runway and 102 metres to the right of the runway, the airliner struck a mound 0.7 metres high with its tail section; the fuselage structure could not withstand the impact and the tail separated. The Il-18 flew over a small river and struck its bank with engine No. 4 (right) and the nose and right landing gear, whereupon the nose gear broke. Next the aircraft struck a mound, broke off part of the right wing with both right engines and the right landing gear, after which it finally came to a stop 127 metres to the side of the runway and 1400 metres from the start of the takeoff run. A small fire broke out at the crash site. In all, 1 passenger and radio operator Ryzhkovsky were killed, and all the others received injuries of varying severity. Later co-pilot Pushkin died in hospital from his injuries.