Il-12 crash at Magdagachi (1957)

The Il-12 crash at Magdagachi was an aviation accident involving an Aeroflot Il-12P aircraft that occurred on Wednesday 7 August 1957 at Magdagachi Airport, in which 1 person was killed.

Crash

Aircraft L1828 was operating passenger flight 554a from Irkutsk to Khabarovsk with a first intermediate stop in Magdagachi. In total there were 5 crew members and 12 passengers on the aircraft. At night at 17:55, Flight 554a, travelling at a flight level of 1800 metres, entered the zone of Magdagachi Airport. The sky at that time was covered with nimbostratus clouds with a base of 600 metres and scattered fractonimbus clouds with a base of 330 metres, moderate rain was falling, and visibility was 3000 metres. The flight director instructed the crew to proceed to the outer NDB at an altitude of 700 metres. When the aircraft reported visually passing the outer NDB, clearance was given to fly the approach pattern on a heading of 133°. The crew was also warned that on a heading of 313° there would be strong drift to the left because of the north-easterly wind (30° 7—8 m/s). The aircraft flew a normal pattern approach, after which, at the established altitude of 200 metres, it reached the outer NDB. After the aircraft reported seeing the runway, the controller gave landing clearance.

However, the crew then began to make errors and violations in piloting technique. Thus the inner NDB was passed at an altitude of 100 metres, which was 30 metres higher than established, and the drift correction was taken incorrectly, because of which the airliner ended up on the line of high-intensity lights. In addition, the vertical rate of descent was exceeded and reached 10—11 m/s. When passing an altitude of 40 metres, the flaps were extended and the landing lights switched on, when co-pilot Arzhanov suggested discontinuing the approach and going around, but commander Klimov did not interrupt the descent. Then, 500 metres from the inner NDB, the Il-12 struck a five-metre high-intensity approach light pole with its nose landing gear, after which, losing speed, it successively struck another 7 poles with the cockpit and the centre section before coming to a stop in a field. Its nose gear leg collapsed and the cockpit was badly damaged; both pilots received serious injuries, as a result of which the crew commander died. The other people on board were unharmed.