Aeroflot Flight 2306

Aeroflot Flight 2306

A Soviet Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134A, similar to that involved in the accident.
Accident summary
Date	2 July 1986
Summary	In-flight fire
Passengers	86
Crew	6
Fatalities	54
Survivors	38
Aircraft type	Tupolev Tu-134AK
Operator	Aeroflot
Registration	CCCP-65120
Flight origin	Vorkuta Airport, Vorkuta
Stopover	Syktyvkar Airport, Syktyvkar
Destination	Sheremetyevo Airport, Moscow

Aeroflot Flight 2306 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Vorkuta to Moscow in the Soviet Union, with a stopover in Syktyvkar. The Tupolev Tu-134 operated by Aeroflot crashed on 2 July 1986 during an emergency landing after it departed Syktyvkar, killing 54 of 92 passengers and crew on board.

Flight and crash

While it was climbing away from Syktyvkar, at an altitude of 5,600 metres (18,400 ft), the aircraft's rear cargo hold smoke alarm annunciated. The captain sent the flight engineer to verify the alert. Violating procedure, the captain left the cockpit to investigate with the flight engineer. Having returned to the cockpit, the captain dispatched the first officer to extinguish the fire. The captain then initiated an emergency descent and return to Syktyvkar—which by that time was at a distance of 140 kilometres (87 mi)—from an altitude of 6,700 metres (22,000 ft). During the emergency descent the captain and the navigator were in the cockpit, while the flight engineer and the first officer fought the fire. When the aircraft was at an altitude of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) the flight engineer and the first officer returned to the cockpit and announced that the fire had not been extinguished, although two fire extinguishers had been deployed. The captain decided to make an immediate forced landing and informed air traffic control of his decision. The smoke in the aircraft cabin induced coughing, suffocation and bleeding from the nasopharynx. Some of the passengers fainted.

The aircraft landed in a dense mixed forest, 75 kilometres (47 mi) away from Syktyvkar. The aircraft broke up as a result of impact with trees and was destroyed by fire.

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Tupolev Tu-134A, registration CCCP-65120 and manufactured in 1978. At the time of the crash the aircraft had 7,989 flight cycles and 13,988 flight hours.