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N0KFQ > TODAY 14.10.10 01:26l 46 Lines 1974 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 18427_N0KFQ
Read: VE7HFY GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Oct 13
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Sent: 101013/2350Z @:N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA #:18427 [Branson] FBB7.00i $:18427_N
From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@WW
Oct 13, 1972:
Jet crashes in poor weather
A jet crashes in Moscow due to poor weather on this day in 1972,
killing 176 people.
Intourist, the official Soviet travel agency, chartered the
Ilyushin-62 jet airliner to carry passengers from Paris, France,
to the Soviet Union. The first leg of the flight, landing in
Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), was completely uneventful. One
hundred and one of the 102 French citizens on the flight
disembarked in Leningrad, leaving 111 Russians, 38 Chileans and
12 Western Europeans to make the second leg to Moscow.
Approaching Sheremetevo Airport, the plane encountered heavy
rain. Visibility was severely reduced and the pilot was unable to
see the runway. Several other flights arriving in the Moscow area
decided to divert their landings to Stockholm, Sweden, which was
prudent given that the Moscow airport's instrument-only landing
system was not working properly at the time. Still, the charter
jet decided to land in Moscow. It was forced to abort its first
attempt, and then circled the area waiting for a clearing. On the
fourth attempt at landing, the pilot apparently believed he could
see the runway and brought the plane to the ground, but the plane
was actually three full miles from the airport.
Landing hard in the small village of Kranaya Polyana, the
collision with the ground caused sparks to fly hundreds of feet
in the air. The pilot lost all control of the jet and the
resulting crash and explosion killed everyone on board, as well
as several people on the ground. The Soviet press agency, Tass,
initially refused to release any information about the crash and
sent the few Western journalists in the area to the town of
Chernaya Gryaz, 10 miles away from the crash site. Eventually,
though, Tass was forced to release some limited information
because there had been non-Soviet casualties.
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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