Tu-104 accident near Savasleyka

The Tu-104 accident near Savasleyka was an aviation incident that occurred on 19 February 1958. A Tu-104 airliner was operating a ferry flight on the route Novosibirsk — Sverdlovsk — Moscow, but the aircraft soon headed for the alternate aerodrome of Savasleyka; however, the aircraft ran out of all its fuel and made an emergency landing in a field during the landing approach. None of the 3 crew members on board was killed.

This was the first occurrence in the history of the Tu-104 and the first occurrence involving a jet passenger aircraft in the USSR.

Occurrence

The aircraft was operating a ferry flight on the route Novosibirsk — Sverdlovsk — Moscow for repairs, and it was piloted by a crew of three. When the airliner entered the Moscow air zone, the crew either considered that the remaining fuel of 8 tonnes was insufficient to reach Vnukovo Airport, or the weather conditions over Moscow were below the meteorological minimum (the exact data in the sources differ); in any case the crew requested a landing at an alternate aerodrome. Initially they were offered the military aerodrome of Dyagilevo in Ryazan Oblast, but because of difficult weather conditions the crew lost orientation and was unable to reach the aerodrome's homing beacon.

It was then decided to proceed to Savasleyka aerodrome, which was located in Gorky Oblast, three hundred kilometres east of Moscow's Vnukovo. During the landing approach, in the course of the descent, the fuel ran out and the engines stopped. The crew was therefore forced to decide on a forced landing outside the aerodrome and carried it out onto a forest one and a half kilometres from the runway. No one was killed.