Aeroflot Flight 7425

Aeroflot Flight 7425

An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154B-2 similar to the one involved in the accident is seen here at Zürich Airport in 1982.
Accident
Date	10 July 1985
Summary	Pilot error
Site	Uchkuduk, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union 42°9′24″N 63°33′20″E / 42.15667°N 63.55556°E / 42.15667; 63.55556Coordinates: 42°9′24″N 63°33′20″E / 42.15667°N 63.55556°E / 42.15667; 63.55556
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Tupolev Tu-154B-2
Operator	Aeroflot
Registration	CCCP-85311
Flight origin	Karshi Airport
Stopover	Ufa Airport
Destination	Pulkovo Airport
Passengers	191
Crew	9
Fatalities	200

Aeroflot Flight 7425^{[nb 1]} refers to a Tupolev Tu-154B-2, registration CCCP-85311, that was operating a domestic scheduled Karshi–Ufa–Leningrad passenger service under the airline's Uzbekistan division, that crashed near Uchkuduk, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union, while en route its second leg. The crash killed all 200 occupants on board.^[2]

Passengers and Crew

Flight 7425 had 139 adults and 52 children on board. The captain was Oleg Pavlovich Belisov, the co-pilot was Anatoliy Timofeevich Pozjumskij, the navigator was Harry N. Argeev, and the flight engineer was Abduvahit Sultanovich Mansurov. In the cabin were five flight attendants.^[3]

Description of the accident

The aircraft was covering the first leg of the flight, cruising at an altitude of 11,600 metres (38,100 ft) with an airspeed of only 400 kilometres per hour (250 mph), close to stalling speed for that altitude. The low speed caused vibrations which the aircrew incorrectly assumed were engine surges. Using the thrust levers to reduce engine power to flight idle, the crew caused a further drop in airspeed to 290 km/h (180 mph). The aircraft stalled and entered a flat spin, crashing into the ground near Uchkuduk, Uzbekistan, at that time in the Soviet Union. There were no survivors among the 191 passengers and the 9 crewmen.^[2]

It is the deadliest air disaster in Soviet and Uzbek aviation history, the deadliest in Aeroflot's history, and the deadliest accident involving a Tupolev Tu-154.^[2]

Cause

Flight 7425's cockpit voice recorder was destroyed in the crash. Investigators with the help of psychologists studied the human factors that led to the aviation incident. Their findings were that Flight 7425's flight crew were very fatigued at the time of the crash due to their having to spend 24 hours at the departure airport prior to takeoff. Another factor in the crash was inadequate regulations for crews encountering abnormal conditions.^[4]

See also

• Aeroflot accidents and incidents
• Aeroflot accidents and incidents in the 1980s

Notes

References