Aeroflot Flight 909

An Il-18 similar to the accident aircraft.
Accident
Date	6 March 1976
Summary	Loss of control following electrical failure
Site	near Verkhnyaya Khava, Voronezh Oblast
Aircraft type	Ilyushin Il-18E
Operator	Aeroflot
Registration	CCCP-75408
Flight origin	Moskva-Vnukovo Airport
Destination	Yerevan Airport
Passengers	100
Crew	11
Fatalities	111
Injuries	0
Survivors	0

Aeroflot Flight 909 was a scheduled domestic flight overnight on 5/6 March 1976 flown by Ilyushin Il-18E registered CCCP-74508. The aircraft lost control following an electrical failure and crashed near Voronezh in the Soviet Union. All 111 on board were killed.^[1]

Accident

The aircraft was on a domestic passenger flight between Moscow and Yerevan at flight level 260 (about 26,000 feet (7,900 m)) when an electrical failure disabled some of the aircraft instruments including the compass and the two main gyros. Some people say that the aircraft may have collided with a military training airplane that had lost its way during a night flight. It was 00:58 in the dark and according to the official version without a natural horizon due to clouds the crew became confused on the orientation of the aircraft and control was lost and the aircraft crashed killing all on board.^[1] However, a number of experts affirm that it is difficult to believe that such a professional crew could lose control in these circumstances. Some reports show that seven were killed on the ground.^[2]

Aircraft

The aircraft was a four-engined Ilyushin Il-18E turboprop built in 1966.^[1]

References

CAP 479 - World Airline Accident Summary - Volume 2: 1976 onwards. London: Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom). 1974. ISBN 0-86039-344-5.