Il-12 crash in Magdagachi (1953)

The Il-12 crash at Magdagachi was an aviation accident involving an Il-12 aircraft of Aeroflot that occurred on Wednesday, 4 November 1953 near Magdagachi airport, killing 5 people.

Crash

The aircraft was operating mail flight 5 from Irkutsk to Khabarovsk with intermediate stops in Chita and Magdagachi. At 10:03 the airliner took off from Irkutsk and 1 hour 5 minutes later landed safely in Chita. Then at 12:58 flight 5 took off from Chita for Magdagachi and after climbing took up flight level 3000 metres. At 14:24, proceeding at this flight level, the aircraft entered the area of responsibility of the control centre in Magdagachi, and at 15:41, having already descended to flight level 1200 metres, it also entered the zone of Magdagachi airport. The airport controller cleared flight 5 to descend to the height of the traffic circuit with a pressure setting of 728.2 mm Hg. The crew then received clearance to land on a heading of 300°, as well as the landing conditions (north-westerly wind 4 m/s, clear, visibility 15 kilometres), after which it began the approach. At this time it was a clear moonless night. The airport's flight director watched as the Il-12 approached the airport on a heading reciprocal to the landing heading, made the third turn, and then disappeared from view. Several minutes passed, after which a glow suddenly appeared in the area of the fourth turn.

As was established, between the first and second turns the airliner approached the airfield at a height of approximately 600 metres. When the commander received clearance to land, he did not fly a full check circuit but immediately began the landing approach. However, when the Il-12 completed the fourth turn, it began catching the tops of trees with its wing. After flying like this for 160 metres, the aircraft then struck the trunk of a thick tree with its left wing, as a result of which the wing was partially destroyed. The airliner soared sharply upward, then, rotating to the left about its axis, turned over "onto its back", after which at 15:55 (21:55 local time), 358 metres from the point of first collision with the trees, it struck the ground at an angle of about 45°. The aircraft was completely destroyed and burned, and all five people on board died.