| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 11, 1979 |
| Type | Mid-air collision |
| Site | near Dniprodzerzhynsk, Ukrainian SSR |
| Total fatalities | 178 |
| Total survivors | 0 |
| First aircraft | |
| Type | Tupolev Tu-134 |
| Operator | Aeroflot – Moldavian SSR |
| Tail number | СССР-65816 |
| Flight origin | Voronezh Airport, Russian SFSR |
| Destination | Chişinău Airport, Moldavian SSR |
| Passengers | 88 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Second aircraft | |
| Type | Tupolev Tu-134 |
| Operator | Aeroflot |
| Tail number | СССР-65735 |
| Flight origin | Donetsk Airport, Ukrainian SSR |
| Destination | Minsk-1 International Airport, Belarusian SSR |
| Passengers | 77 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Survivors | 0 |
The 1979 Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collision occurred on 11 August 1979 when two Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134s collided over the Ukrainian SSR, near Dniprodzerzhynsk.[1]
The first aircraft involved was a Tupolev 134AK, registration CCCP-65735, that was operating a domestic scheduled Donetsk–Minsk passenger service, flying at an altitude of 8,400 metres (27,600 ft); there were 84 occupants aboard, of whom 77 were passengers.[2] The other aircraft was a Tupolev Tu-134A, tail number СССР-65816, that was operating the last leg of a domestic scheduled Chelyabinsk–Voronezh–Kishinev passenger service under the airline's Moldova division, en route at the same altitude the former aircraft was; it had 94 occupants on board, which was composed of 88 passengers and 6 crew.[3]
An air traffic controller noticed that the aircraft were on intersecting routes and ordered 65735 to climb to 9000 metres.[3] The controller heard a muffled reply and assumed it was an acknowledgement from 65735 but the muffled transmission was actually from another aircraft and 65735 and 65816 collided in a cloudy scenario.[3]
All occupants of both aircraft perished in the accident, including 17 players and staff of the then Soviet top division Pakhtakor Football Club team.[3][4][5]
|
||||||||||||