How the USSR Lost 13 Admirals in One Plane Crash. Tu-104 Pushkin.
Video from the channel Про Авиацию about Tupolev Tu-104, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 19:13. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
Documentary about the crash of the Tu-104 belonging to the 25th division of the Soviet Pacific Fleet, which occurred on 7 February 1981 at the Pushkin military airfield, in the Leningrad region. The aircraft was returning from a meeting of the command of all the fleets at the Leningrad Naval Academy and crashed a few seconds after takeoff. All 50 people aboard died, 44 passengers and 6 crew members, including the fleet commander, Emil Spiridonov, 13 admirals and 3 generals.
Historical background
The video reviews the Tu-104, the first Soviet commercial jet aircraft, derived from the Tu-16 bomber, which flew in 1955 and entered regular service in September 1956; 205 were built. According to the channel, it was difficult to fly and accumulated 37 accidents. After a crash near Moscow in 1979 it was withdrawn from civilian service, but the military kept it. After the accident, sabotage was suspected and the fleet went on maximum alert, a hypothesis that the investigation ruled out.
Notable facts
In command was Lieutenant Colonel Anatoli Ilyushin, with 8,150 flight hours. The black box data cited by Rudolf Golosov indicate a takeoff at 265 km/h, 40 less than planned, and an excessive angle of attack. The cause identified is overload with furniture, appliances and two 500 kg paper reels poorly secured, which shifted the centre of gravity backward. The Tu-104 was later banned in the armed forces and baggage weighing was made mandatory. The victims are buried in the Serafimovskoye cemetery in Leningrad.