1979 Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collision

Fatal aviation accident in Ukraine May 2023 December 2022 transp August 2019 1979 Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collisionAeroflot Flight 7628Aeroflot Flight 7880 Aeroflot Tu-134A CCCP-65862 LFSB 1975-12-28.png 1 A Tupolev Tu-134A operated by Aeroflot that was similar to both aircraft involved in the accident 11 August 1979 Mid-air collision due to ATC errors Accident Near Dniprodzerzhynsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union type:event dms inline,title 178 0 Tupolev Tu-134A Aeroflot SU7628 AFL7628 AEROFLOT 7628 СССР-65816 Voronezh Airport, Russian SFSR Chișinău Airport, Moldavian SSR 94 88 6 94 0 Tupolev Tu-134AK Aeroflot SU7880 AFL7880 AEROFLOT 7880 СССР-65735 Donetsk Airport, Ukrainian SSR Minsk-1 International Airport, Belarusian SSR 84 77 7 84 0 On 11 August 1979, a mid-air collision occurred over the Ukrainian SSR, near the city of Dniprodzerzhynsk (now Kamianske). The aircraft involved were both Tupolev Tu-134As on scheduled domestic passenger flights, operated by Aeroflot. All 178 people aboard both aircraft died in the accident. The official Soviet aviation board investigation of the accident concluded that the crash was caused by "mistakes and violations" made by air traffic controllers. Aircraft Aeroflot Flight 7628 Aeroflot Flight 7628 was a twin turbofan Tu-134A passenger jet, serial number 4352210 and registration CCCP-65816, that was built at the Kharkiv Aviation Plant in 1974 and which carried out its first flight on 24 March of that year. It was operated by the airline's Moldova division and, at the time of the accident, had logged 12,739 hours and completed 7683 takeoff-landing cycles.https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19790811-1 Accident description aviation-safety.net Aviation Safety Network (ASN) 13 December 2016 5 October 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161005200909/https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19790811-1 live There were 88 passengers and six crew members on board the Tupolev airliner. Aeroflot Flight 7880 Aeroflot Flight 7880 was a Tu-134AK airliner, serial number 1351405 and registration CCCP-65735, that was completed at the Kharkiv aviation plant on 5 November 1971 and which made its first flight later that year. At the time of the accident, the aircraft had accumulated 10,753 flight hours through 7075 cycles.https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19790811-2 Accident description aviation-safety.net Aviation Safety Network (ASN) 13 December 2016 25 December 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20161225075941/https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19790811-2 live There were 77 passengers and seven crew members on board the aircraft. Passengers included 17 members of the Tashkent-based Pakhtakor Football Club.2009-08-04 A monument to Pakhtakor football players erected near Dneprodzerzhynsk (Ukrainian) https://podrobnosti.ua/620103-pod-dneprodzerzhinskom-postavili-pamjatnik-futbolistam-pahtakora.html 2025-03-04 podrobnosti Air traffic control En route to their destinations both aircraft passed through the Kharkiv regional air traffic control (ATC) center airspace. This area was characterized by high traffic density and air traffic controllers often had to carry more than a dozen aircraft simultaneously. This problem had been discussed since the early 1970s, but by the end of the decade the problem had not been solved. The southwest sector, covering from 180° to 255° was especially complex and unpredictable. On 11 August 1979, at 07:50 MSK a new shift of air traffic controllers began work, headed by Sergei Sergeev. In the difficult southwest sector he employed an inexperienced 3rd-class controller, 20-year-old Nikolai Zhukovsky, under the supervision of 1st-class controller, 28-year-old Vladimir Alexandrovich Sumskoy. Adding to the situation that day was that Leonid Brezhnev was embarking on a trip to Crimea. Authorities wanted to give the Soviet leader a clear flight path and this caused considerable disruption of the airline flight operations in the area.Appell James 15 September 2011 The day Uzbek football died http://www.thefootballramble.com/indepth/entry/the-day-uzbek-football-died https://web.archive.org/web/20161224234618/http://www.thefootballramble.com/indepth/entry/the-day-uzbek-football-died 24 December 2016 12 December 2016 The Football Ramble.com The Football Ramble Ltd Accident sequence Flight 7628 was flying on Airway 50 (Magdalinovka – Ball, course 201°) and Flight 7880 was on Airway 147 corridor (Dnipropetrovsk – Kremenchuk, course 300°). These corridors intersect at an angle of 99° north-east of Dniprodzerzhynsk. Because of previous errors, the controller's perception of the location of each aircraft was incorrect. When the ATC supervisor heard the radio traffic and saw the aircraft converging on the radar screen he realized the catastrophic situation and attempted to correct it. At 13:34:07 the ATC controller ordered aircraft 86676 (IL-62) from 9000 to 9,600 m ft. At 13:34:21 ATC controller repeated the order and then directed Flight 7880 from 8400 meters to the now vacant altitude at 9000 m ft. 13:34:07 ATC to aircraft 86676 "Take 9600." 13:34:21 ATC to aircraft 86676 "Take 9600." 13:34:23 ATC to Flight 7880 "and you take a 9. Over 8400 Dneprodzerzhinsk crossover." 13:34:25 aircraft 86676 to ATC "9600." 13:34:33 (inaudible.) "Got it ... 8400" The controller heard a muffled reply and assumed it was an acknowledgement from Flight 7880 – but the muffled transmission was actually from aircraft 86676 and Flight 7880 remained at 8400 meters. Collision thumb|right|upright=1.1|Relative angle of aircraft at impact. Registration 65816 was Flight 7628. Registration 65735 was Flight 7880. Flight 7628 had strayed to the left of the airway by approximately 4 km mi nmi 0, while Flight 7880 was to the left by 0.5 km mi nmi. At 13:35:38 both aircraft suddenly disappeared from ATC radar screens. Zhukovsky tried to contact them, but they did not respond. At 13:37, Igor Chernov, the captain of an Antonov An-2 (CCCP-91734) flying from Cherkasy to Donetsk, reported "Something is falling from the sky!" At 13:40 Chernov reported seeing aircraft parts in the area of Dniprodzerzhynsk (now Kamianske).Muromov Igor 100 great plane crashes 2003 Veche 5-9533-0029-8 528 https://archive.org/details/stovelikikhaviak0000muro/page/528 Both aircraft collided in a cloud at an altitude of 8400 m ft, approximately over Dniprodzerzhynsk. Flight 7880's right wing sliced through Flight 7628's forward fuselage, tearing off part of 7880's right wing, the debris of which was ingested by 7880's right engine. The impact spun 7628 to the right, causing the tails of both aircraft to collide at which time the left engine of 7628 struck the keel of 7880, and 7628's right wing was torn off. Flight 7628 tumbled out of control and broke up, with debris scattered over an area measuring 16 by 3 km mi nmi. Damage to 7880 included the loss of most of the empennage, one of the engines and a section of the right wing. The pilots of 7880 attempted an emergency landing, but at an altitude of approximately 4000 m ft they lost control and at 13:38 crashed north-east of Dniprodzerzhynsk, completely destroying the aircraft.http://www.ua-football.com/foreign/newscommon/1225214001-ostavshiesya-na-nebesah.html Remaining in heaven ua-football.com 11 August 2014 18 December 2016 12 March 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170312064110/https://www.ua-football.com/foreign/newscommon/1225214001-ostavshiesya-na-nebesah.html live Investigation In the subsequent investigation the commission concluded that center of gravity and takeoff weights of both aircraft were within the normal range and that there was no explosion or fire prior to the collision. The commission also found that maintenance was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the regulations and that the level of training of flight crews of both aircraft, as well as their work experience, were not the cause of the crash. The investigators also discovered that the more experienced controller, Vladimir Sumskoy, was in error during the last minutes before the crash, having received a vague answer without a call sign, he did not confirm if the crew of Flight 7880 understood. Sumskoy had previously received penalties for violations, including improper communication and phraseology. The senior controller, Sergei Sergeev, was found to have complicated the air traffic control environment by changing the responsibilities assigned to personnel, including assigning Sumskoy to supervise Zhukovsky. Nine months after the disaster, a court sentenced controllers Zhukovsky and Sumskoy to 15 years imprisonment in a penal colony. Sumskoy served 6.5 years, then was released for good behavior. 2008, he lived in Kharkiv. Zhukovsky reportedly committed suicide. Sergei Sergeev, the chief controller on duty that day, was not prosecuted.МИСТИЧЕСКИЕ СОВПАДЕНИЯ ПРЕСЛЕДУЮТ РОССИЙСКУЮ АВИАЦИЮ MYSTERIOUS COINCIDENCES HAVE RUSSIAN AVIATION http://www.posadki.net/analysis_view.php?id%3D11 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20130814053541/http://www.posadki.net/analysis_view.php?id=11 14 August 2013 12 December 2016 posadki.net ru Memorial In August 2009, 30 years after the crash, a monument was unveiled to the players of the Uzbek Pakhtakor team in the small village of Kurilyvka near Dneprodzerzhinsk, at the site of the crash. The names of all team members are engraved on the monument. At the foot is a granite soccer ball, and above is a stone swan. A monument to members of the Pakhtakor team was also erected at the Botkin Cemetery in Tashkent.A monument to Pakhtakor-79 erected in Tashkent (Russian) https://centrasia.org/newsA.php?st=1376019660 2025-03-06 centrasia.org See also Aeroflot accidents and incidents in the 1970s Aeroflot accidents and incidents List of civilian mid-air collisions List of accidents involving sports teams References Soviet Union Ukraine Aviation Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Tupolev Tu-134 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Ukraine Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1979 Category:1979 in the Soviet Union Category:Mid-air collisions involving airliners Category:Mid-air collisions in Europe Category:Mid-air collisions in the Soviet Union Category:Aviation accidents and incidents caused by air traffic controller error Aeroflot Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving professional sports teams Category:Kamianske Category:Pakhtakor Tashkent FK Category:August 1979 in the Soviet Union Category:1979 in Ukraine Category:1979 disasters in Ukraine Category:History of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast