ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 211636
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| Date: | Monday 1 February 1971 |
| Time: | |
| Type: | Tupolev Tu-16 |
| Owner/operator: | Gromov Flight Research Institute |
| Registration: | |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Moscow Oblast -
 Russia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | Zhukovsky International Airport |
| Zhukovsky International Airport | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
A modified Tupolev Tu-16 was used as a flying laboratory to test a new jet engine, deployed from the belly of the aircraft. Takeoff went as usual and after the radio operator informed air traffic control that the engine testing would begin. That was the last time the plane was heard from and soon the plane disappeared from radar. The official cause of the crash remains classified (only one page of the accident report is declassified), but it is known that the plane broke apart in the air based on the area of the debris field. Possible theories include explosive engine failure resulting in mid-air destruction; malfunction of the flaps, failure to adjust the flaps and slats properly leading to aerodynamic overloads on the aircraft and mid-air breakup; however, none of those theories have been confirmed. There is speculation that the crash was not an accident but was the result of sabotage for the purposes of killing the pilot in command, Amet-khan Sultan, who was becoming more politically active with the Crimean Tatar civil rights movement shortly before his death.
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Amet-Khan Sultan, who had over 20 years of experience as a test pilot, was the pilot-in-command. When the nose and cockpit section of the plane was recovered (quite far away from other sections of the plane), it appeared that whatever happened was fast and the crew did not have time to react to the situation. Previously in his career Amet-khan had managed to land a plane with a ruptured fuel tank after disobeying orders to abandon the plane and parachute out; the fact that he had not appeared to attempt saving the Tu-16 supports the idea that whatever happened was nearly instantaneous and left the crew little or no time to react in addition to the lack of a distress call from the radio operator.
Sources:
http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=356
http://newsland.com/community/14/content/poslednii-polet-geroia/3261860
https://ru.krymr.com/a/liotchik-geroy-amet-khan-sultan-ne-budet-krym/29558876.html
Images:
The only declassified page of the accident report
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-May-2018 05:47 | Soviet Aviation Hist | Added |
| 30-May-2020 07:57 | Anon. | Updated [Source, Narrative, Photo] |
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