Aeroflot Flight 366

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Aeroflot Flight 366

A Tu-124 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date	21 August 1963 (1963-08-21)
Summary	Fuel exhaustion due to pilot and maintenance error
Site	Neva River Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union 59°55′11″N 30°24′13″E / 59.91972°N 30.40361°E / 59.91972; 30.40361
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Tupolev Tu-124
Operator	Aeroflot
Registration	СССР-45021
Flight origin	Tallinn-Ülemiste Airport, Estonian SSR, Soviet Union
Destination	Moskva-Vnukovo Airport, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Passengers	45
Crew	7
Fatalities	0
Survivors	52

Aeroflot Flight 366 (Russian: Рейс 366 Аэрофлота), also known as the Miracle on the Neva, was a water landing by a Tupolev Tu-124 of the Soviet state airline Aeroflot (Moscow division). The aircraft took off from Tallinn-Ülemiste Airport (TLL) at 08:55 on 21 August 1963 with 45 passengers and 7 crew on board.^[1] The aircraft (registration number СССР-45021) was built in 1962^[1] and was scheduled to fly to Moscow–Vnukovo (VKO) under the command of 27-year-old captain Victor Mostovoy. After takeoff the nose gear did not retract.^[1] Ground control diverted the flight to Leningrad (LED) – because of fog at Tallinn.^[1]

At 10:00 Flight 366 started to circle the city at 450 m (1,500 ft), in order to use fuel, reducing weight and decreasing the risk of fire in the event of a crash. The ground services at Pulkovo Airport (LED) were preparing the dirt runway for the landing. Each circuit around the city took the aircraft approximately 15 minutes. During this time the crew attempted to force the nose gear to lock into the fully extended position by pushing it with a pole taken from the cloak closet.

On the eighth and last circuit while 20 km (12 mi) from the airport, the no. 1 engine flamed out due to fuel starvation.^[2] The remaining engine ceased shortly thereafter, with the aircraft above the city center, traveling east over St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Admiralty. Upon loss of power the flight crew ditched the aircraft in the 300-metre (1,000 ft) wide Neva River.

External image
Photo of the plane ditched on the riverbank

Eyewitnesses saw Flight 366 upstream. Immediately after a turn, the aircraft glided over the high steel structures of the Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge with approximately 30 m (100 ft) of clearance. The Tu-124 flew over the Alexander Nevsky Bridge – under construction at the time – barely missing it. The pilot managed to land the aircraft on the river,^[1] in close proximity to an 1898-built steam tugboat.^{[citation needed]}

The plane began to fill with water.^{[citation needed]} The captain of the tugboat saw the plane in distress and went to help. He and his crew broke the aircraft's windshield to tie a cable to the cockpit's control wheel and proceeded to tow the craft to the river bank. During the tow all passengers remained on board. Passengers and crew then evacuated the cabin via an access hatch on the plane's roof.^{[citation needed]}

• List of airline flights that required gliding
• US Airways Flight 1549

• "Prepare to Ditch", in Flight International magazine, 13 August 1964, p. 241
• "Soviet Transports" series, also Ditch or crash-land? B.W. Townshend, 1965 (pp. 47–49)
• Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network