Aeroflot Flight 217

Aeroflot Flight 217 was a non-scheduled international passenger flight from Orly Airport in Paris to Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, with a stopover at Shosseynaya Airport (now Pulkovo Airport) in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). On 13 October 1972, the Ilyushin Il-62 airliner operating the flight crashed on approach to Sheremetyevo, with the loss of all 164 passengers and crew of 10. At the time, it was the world's deadliest civil aviation disaster, until it was surpassed by the Kano air disaster in Nigeria in 1973.^[1] As of 2025^[update], the crash of Flight 217 remains the second-deadliest accident involving an Il-62, after LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055, and the second-deadliest on Russian soil, after Aeroflot Flight 3352.^[2][3][4]

Aeroflot Flight 217

CCCP-86671, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen in August 1972
Accident
Date	13 October 1972 (1972-10-13)
Summary	Undetermined
Site	Near Sheremetyevo International Airport, Lobnya, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union 56°4′40″N 37°24′36″E
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Ilyushin Il-62
Operator	Aeroflot
IATA flight No.	SU217
ICAO flight No.	AFL217
Call sign	AEROFLOT 217
Registration	CCCP-86671
Flight origin	Orly Airport
Stopover	Shosseynaya Airport
Destination	Sheremetyevo International Airport
Occupants	174
Passengers	164
Crew	10
Fatalities	174
Survivors	0

Passengers

Nation	Number
Algeria	6
Australia	1
Chile	38
East Germany	1
Soviet Union	118[note 1]
Total	174

Crash

Shortly before the expected landing, the plane was flying at the altitude of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) and received the ATC instructions to descend to 400 metres (1,300 ft). The crew confirmed and started to descend, but later there was no action to return to the horizontal flight. The plane passed the 400-metre (1,300 ft) mark with 20 m/s (66 ft/s) vertical velocity, no expected report to ATC and engines still running at low thrust. It crashed shortly afterwards, with landing gear up, spoilers retracted and horizontal speed about 620 km/h (330 kn; 390 mph).^{[citation needed]}

Aftermath

Reactions

The Soviet media's reaction was delayed by 17 hours, with western media picking up on the disaster. The soviets had refused to state if the aircraft was an Il-62 and if there were any foreigners onboard the flight.^[5]

Investigation

The cause of the crash could not be determined. Investigators believed the most probable cause was the 'psycho-physiological incapacitation of the crew for reasons unknown'.^[6] Somewhere around 500–600 metres (1,600–2,000 ft) altitude, 30–25 seconds before impact, the pilots either had been incapacitated or lost control of the plane.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Soviet Union portal
• Russia portal
• Aviation portal
• 1970s portal

• Aeroflot accidents and incidents
• Aeroflot accidents and incidents in the 1970s

Notes

1. 108 passengers and 10 crew.