The prototype Tu-144 |
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| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 3 June 1973, 15:29 |
| Type | Structural failure in flight |
| Site | Goussainville, Val-d'Oise |
| Crew | 6 |
| Fatalities | 6 + 8 on ground |
| Aircraft type | Tupolev Tu-144S |
| Operator | Tupolev |
| Tail number | CCCP-77102 |
| Flight origin | Paris – Le Bourget Airport |
| Destination | Paris – Le Bourget Airport |
The 1973 Paris Air Show crash was the crash of the second production Tupolev Tu-144 at Goussainville, Val-d'Oise, France, which killed all six crew and a further eight people on the ground. The crash, at the Paris Air Show on 3 June 1973, damaged the development program of the Tupolev Tu-144.[1] One theory is that a French Mirage jet sent to photograph the aircraft without the knowledge of the Russian crew caused the pilots to take evasive maneuvers, resulting in the crash.[2] Another theory is that in a rivalry with the Anglo-French Concorde, the pilots attempted a maneuver that was beyond the capabilities of the aircraft.[2][3]
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The aircraft involved was Tupolev Tu-144S CCCP-77102, manufacturer's serial number 01-2, the second production Tu-144.[4] The aircraft had first flown on 29 March 1972.[5] This aircraft had been heavily modified compared to the initial prototype, now featuring engine nacelles split on either side of the fuselage, landing gear that retracted into the nacelles, and retractable foreplanes.[6] The pilot was Mikhail Koslov,[3] and the co-pilot was Valery M. Molchanov.[7] Also on board were G. N. Bazhenov, the flight navigator, V. N. Benderov, deputy chief designer and engineer major-general, B. A. Pervukhin, senior engineer, and A. I. Dralin, flight engineer.[8] The crash occurred in front of 250,000 people, including designer Alexei Tupolev, towards the end of the show, following a display by the pre-production Concorde aircraft.[3]
The aircraft made what appeared to be a landing approach, with the landing gear out and the "moustache" foreplanes extended, but then engaged all four engines and climbed rapidly. Possibly stalling at below 2,000 ft (610 m), the aircraft pitched over and went into a steep dive.[3] Trying to pull out of the subsequent dive with the engines again at full power, the Tu-144 broke up in mid-air. The left wing came away first, and then the aircraft disintegrated and crashed,[7] [3][5] destroying 15 houses,[9] and killing all six people on board the Tu-144 and eight more on the ground.[5] Three children were among those killed, and sixty people received severe injuries.[10]
The crew of the Tu-144 were buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow on 12 June 1973; during the ceremony Pyotr Dementiev, the Minister of the Aircraft Industry, gave a speech.[11]
Following the crash, Marcel Dassault called for the 1975 Paris Air Show to be held at Istres, which is situated in open country 25 miles (40 km) north west of Marseilles.[12]
The crash reduced the enthusiasm of Aeroflot for the Tu-144. Restrictions on the Tu-144 following the Paris Air Show crash meant that it only saw limited service during 1977 and 1978, and it was finally withdrawn following another crash in May 1978.[4]
The accident was investigated by the DTCE, part of the French Military, which was responsible for accidents into prototype aircraft in France. The wreckage was recovered to a hangar at Le Bourget, with some of it being flown by Antonov An-22 to the Soviet Union.[7]
One theory is that the Tu-144 maneuvered to avoid a French Mirage chase plane that was attempting to photograph its unique canards,[13] which were very advanced for the time, and that the French and Soviet governments colluded with each other to cover up such details.[10] The flight of the Mirage was denied in the original French report of the incident, perhaps because it was engaged in industrial espionage. More recent reports have admitted the existence of the Mirage (and the fact that the Russian crew were not told about the Mirage's flight) though not its role in the crash. However, the official press release did state: "though the inquiry established that there was no real risk of collision between the two aircraft, the Soviet pilot was likely to have been surprised."[10] Howard Moon also stresses that last-minute changes to the flight schedule would have disoriented the pilots in a cockpit with notably poor vision. He also cites an eyewitness who claims the co-pilot had agreed to take a camera with him, which he may have been operating at the time of the evasive maneuver.[10] The initial approach may have been an attempted landing on the wrong runway, which occurred due to a last-minute shortening of the Tu-144's display.[2]
Bob Hoover believed that the rivalry of the Tu-144 and Concorde led the pilot of the Tu-144 to attempt a maneuver that went beyond the abilities of the aircraft: "That day, the Concorde went first, and after the pilot performed a high-speed flyby, he pulled up steeply and climbed to approximately 10,000 [feet] before leveling off. When the TU-144 pilot performed the same maneuver he pulled the nose up so steeply l didn't believe he could possibly recover."[2]
Another theory claims that the black box was actually recovered by the Soviets and decoded. The cause of this accident is now thought to be due to changes made by the ground engineering team to the auto-stabilisation input controls prior to the second day of display flights. These changes were intended to allow the Tu-144 to outperform the Concorde in the display circuit. Unfortunately, the changes also inadvertently connected some factory test wiring which resulted in an excessive rate of climb, leading to the stall and subsequent crash.[14]
A third theory relates to deliberate misinformation on the part of the Anglo-French team. The main thrust of this theory was that the Anglo-French team knew that the Soviet team were planning to steal the design plans of the Concorde, and the Soviets were allegedly passed false blueprints with a flawed design. The case, it is claimed, contributed to the imprisonment by the Soviets of Greville Wynne in 1963 for spying.[15][16] Wynne was imprisoned on 11 May 1963 and the development of the Tu-144 was not sanctioned until 16 July.
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