S.55 crash near Lazarev

The Savoia-Marchetti S.55 crash near Lazarev was an aviation accident that occurred on Wednesday, 26 June 1935, 67 km from the settlement of Lazarevo, Nizhneamursky District, Nizhneamurskaya Oblast, Far Eastern Krai (now the settlement of Lazarev, Nikolayevsky District, Khabarovsk Krai). A Grazhdanvozdukhoflot “Savoia S.55P” seaplane, operating a scheduled mail and passenger flight from Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky to Khabarovsk, an hour and a half after departure in difficult weather conditions collided with a mountain, fell to the ground and was destroyed. All 12 people on board (including one child) were killed.

Crash

In poor visibility the pilot lost visual contact with the ground and probably decided to descend in order to see the ground and fly in search of a body of water for orientation or for landing the seaplane. The aircraft flew past the approach to the “gateway to the mainland” near the settlement of De-Kastri (Lake Kizi) and flew a further 87 km, farther north, ending up beyond the settlement of Lazarev, where, having entered the valley between the ridges along the Tymi River, it fell into a “stone trap”. It was along this river that Svetogorov intended to reach the Amur, but he did not take into account that all the rivers in this area flow in the other direction — into the Strait of Tartary (beyond the pass, on the border of the Ulchsky and Nikolayevsky districts, all the rivers flow the opposite way, from the Strait of Tartary into the Amur).

In the fog the sleep-deprived pilot noticed the mountain lying on his course too late, which caused the aircraft to collide with the mountain. At low altitude the aircraft struck the top of a Siberian spruce; the impact hit the pilot's cockpit (the control column broke in half, the wheel-shaped control yokes were broken off all around), the machine was sharply turned against its axis, and the hulls were torn off and scattered. All the people on board were killed.

“Aircraft piloted by pilot Svyatogorov lost. The seaplane “L-840” piloted by pilot Svya[e]togorov, which departed on 26 June from Aleksandrovsk on Sakhalin for Khabarovsk, has not yet arrived at its destination. On board the aircraft, besides the pilot, were a flight mechanic, a radio operator and 8 passengers. On 26 June at 11 hours 30 minutes the radio operator of the Nizhne-Tambovsk airport received a radiotelegram from Svya[e]togorov: “Flying in fog, lost my bearings, report the weather”. A weather report was transmitted to Svya[e]togorov. No further radiotelegrams were received from him. On the day of departure from Aleksandrovsk the weather was overcast but flyable. 4 aircraft were sent to search for Svya[e]togorov. Steamships in the Strait of Tartary have been notified.”

“The search for Svyatogorov's aircraft. The search for Svyatogorov's aircraft is continuing by all means. So far its location has not been found. Pilot Mazuruk and the head of the political department of the civil air fleet directorate, Ostapenko, who flew out to check a report that Svyatogorov's aircraft had supposedly been spotted by people heading into the valley of the Medvezhya River, have returned. No signs of the aircraft were found. On the morning of 7 July Mazuruk and Ostapenko again flew out on the search.”