Aeroflot Flight CCCP-65856
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 3 May 1985 |
| Type | Mid-air collision involving ATC errors |
| Site | near Zolochev, Ukraine |
| Total fatalities | 94 |
| Total survivors | 0 |
| First aircraft | |
| Type | Tupolev Tu-134 |
| Operator | Aeroflot |
| Tail number | CCCP-65856 |
| Flight origin | Tallinn Airport, Estonia |
| Stopover | Lviv, Ukraine |
| Destination | Chişinău, Moldova |
| Passengers | 73 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Second aircraft | |
| Type | Antonov An-26 |
| Operator | Soviet Air Force |
| Tail number | 101 red |
| Passengers | 9 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Aeroflot Flight CCCP-65856 was the designation of the scheduled flight of a two-engined Tupolev Tu-134 which departed Tallinn Airport in Estonia, at 10:38 am on May 3, 1985, for Chişinău in Moldova, making a stopover at Lviv, Ukraine. While descending to Lviv in overcast weather, it collided at 12:13 with a Soviet Air Force Antonov An-26 (callsign CCCP-26492) which had just taken off from Lviv. The collision occurred at an altitude of 13,000 feet (FL130). Both aircraft lost their right wings and tails, went out of control and crashed about one or two minutes later near the village of Zolochev, Ukraine. There were no survivors.
Civil and military air traffic controllers mislocated both aircraft involved, leading to violations of air traffic control rules. An air controller found guilty of causing the disaster was found dead two weeks after his arrest.[citation needed]
Among the victims of the disaster were the young Estonian table-tennis player Alari Lindmäe (born 15 September 1967) and two generals of the Soviet Army. The captain of the Aeroflot aircraft, Nikolai Dmitrijev (born 18 October 1931), was a Hero of Socialist Labor and one of the Soviet Union's most decorated civil airline pilots.
