Il-62 incident in New York
Sheremetyevo Joint Aviation Detachment, Central Directorate of International Air Services Ilyushin Il-62 · Presence on board the aircraft of the wife of Alexander Godunov, who the day before had requested political asylum from the US authorities
From John F. Kennedy, New York to Sheremetyevo, Moscow
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Incident
- Event fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 123
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Ilyushin Il-62
- Aircraft type
- Ilyushin IL-62
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- CCCP-86478
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From John F. Kennedy, New YorkTo Sheremetyevo, Moscow
Approximate · Estimated position: John F. Kennedy International Airport, the airport the Wikipedia article names as the site. Where on or near it is not known.
From the Wikipedia article
The Il-62 incident in New York was a diplomatic incident that began on Friday 24 August 1979, when at Kennedy International Airport in New York City the American authorities detained an Aeroflot Il-62M operating international flight SU-316 to Moscow. The reason was that Alexander Godunov, who the day before had requested political asylum in the USA, persuaded the authorities to delay the aircraft's departure, arguing that on board was his wife Lyudmila Vlasova, who, in his opinion, was to be taken to the USSR by force. The airliner was held by the American side for three days before permission to depart was obtained on Monday 27 August.
Based on these events, in 1985 the Lenfilm studio made the two-part drama "Flight 222", which became one of the leaders of the Soviet box office.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the Russian Wikipedia article “Инцидент с Ил-62 в Нью-Йорке” (revision 155012482, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
Russian Wikipedia article: Инцидент с Ил-62 в Нью-Йорке
- Article
- Инцидент с Ил-62 в Нью-Йорке
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 155012482 · 2026-09-12 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q19211972
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- ru Wikipedia article "Инцидент с Ил-62 в Нью-Йорке" (page 8385347, revision 155012482), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- airport the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata code, OurAirports)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): An Aeroflot airliner on international flight SU-316: an airline passenger flight. The article: "the American authorities detained an Aeroflot Il-62M operating international flight SU-316 to Moscow"
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Russian Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.