Note: Only a photo of the captain could be found. Due to the format of the photographs, no suitable photos of CCCP-65735 could be used for this videos background.
Aircraft Photo:
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Accident Details:
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On August 11th, 1979, a Tu-134A (CCCP-65816) was performing the flight SU7628 on the route Chelyabinsk (Russia) - Chisinau (Belarus). There were 94 people on board. The plane took off at 12:54. The flgith crew for flight 7628 (CCCP-65816) consisted of:
• Captain AlexeI Arkhipovich: Taranenko
• First Officer: Valentin Nikanorovich Tarasenko
• Flight Engineer: Vladimir Vasilyevich Butyrsky
• Navigator: Anatoly Grigoryevich Ivashchenko
At 13:11, another Tu-134AK (CCCP-65735) took off from Tashkent (Uzbekistan) to Minsk (Belarus). They were performing a flight SU7880. There were 84 people on board, including the famous Soviet - Uzbek football team "Pakhtakor", They were flying to Minsk for a match with the Belarusian team. The flight crew for flight 7880 (CCCP-75635) consisted of:
• Captain: Anatoly Stepanovich Komarov
• First Officer: Sergei Alexandrovich Petrosyan
• Flight Engineer: Egor Sidorovich Simakov
• Navigator: Nikolai Konstantinovich Skipper
• Flight Operator: Yuriy Ivanovich Smirnov
The route of two Tu-134 crossed near Kharkov (a city in Ukraine), this flight zone has always been characterized by high intensity (high traffic).
For unknown reasons, the flight director appointed a young, inexperienced air traffic controller (21-year-old Nikolai Zhukovsky) to this sector. ATC-instructor Vladimir Sumskoy was supposed to monitor his work.
The flight crew of CCCP-65816 reported that they are flying at altitude of 8,400 meters and asked ATC to climb to 9,600 meters. However, ATC rejected their request three times, although they could have given permission. Later CCCP-65735 got in touch. ATC allowed them to climb 8,400 meters.
The air traffic controller incorrectly calculated the time and place where the planes would intersect and was busy directing other aircraft. Because of this, he did not notice the occurrence of dangerous traffic.
Noticing the dangerous traffic, ATC instructor Vladimir Sumskoy began to correct the situation. He gave a command to CCCP-86676 to climb to 9600 meters. Then he instructed CCCP-65735 to climb to 9000 meters, informing them of dangerous traffic.
However, due to strong interference, none of the Tu-134 pilots heard his instruction. Someone replied "Roger, 8400" but who it was - remains unknown. The air traffic controllers did not check the execution of the command and spent the last minute before the collision shouting at each other because of the situation
Both Tu-134s collided at an altitude of 8,400 meters. CCCP-65816 broke up mid-air, the pilots of CCCP-65735 attempted an emergency landing but lost control and crashed on the ground after losing its wing and tail. The total number of fatalities - 178 people.
Two minutes later, the captain of an An-2 (CCCP-91734) Igor Chernov got in touch. He reported that he saw wreckage of both aircrafts falling from the sky.
Air traffic controller trainee Nikolai Zhukovsky committed suicide in prison due to threats he recieved from relatives of the victims. ATC instructor Vladimir Sumskoy was sentenced to seven years and was released.
Huge shoutout to my russian colleague Алексей Паленков!
