Aeroflot Flight 112

Aeroflot Flight 112

A Lisunov Li-2 aircraft
Accident
Date	2 January 1965 (1965-01-02)
Summary	Engine failure due to fuel exhaustion
Site	Soviet Union 4 km south of Darvaza (Turkmen SSR, USSR)
Total fatalities	24
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Lisunov Li-2
Operator	Soviet Union Aeroflot
Registration	USSR-63842
Flight origin	Turkmen SSR Tashauz
Stopover	Turkmen SSR Darvaza
Destination	Turkmen SSR Ashgabat
Occupants	24
Passengers	22
Crew	2
Fatalities	24

The Aeroflot Flight 112 was an aviation disaster involving a passenger Lisunov Li-2 aircraft operated by Aeroflot, which occurred on Saturday, 2 January 1965 near the village of Darvaza (which does not exist anymore), Turkmen SSR. The crash resulted in the deaths of 24 people, making it the largest aviation disaster in the history of Turkmenistan.

Aircraft

The Li-2 of the Ashgabat Joint Aviation Squadron (165th Flight Squadron) of the Turkmenistan Airlines with the tail number USSR-63842 (factory number 6401) was manufactured in 1949 and had accumulated a total of 8,758 flight hours.

Crew

• Captain - Gennady Ivanovich Sobolev
• First officer - Viktor Isakovich Margiev

Accident

On Friday, 1 January, aircraft 63842 operated passenger flight 111 from Ashgabat to Tashauz. According to the flight assignment, 1,236 kilograms of gasoline were loaded into the fuel tanks. Departing at 13:05 MSK, the airliner reached Tashauz without incident, landing at 14:58. The return flight, flight 112, was then to be performed. At 15:58, with 2 crew members and 22 passengers (21 adults and 1 child) on board, the Li-2 departed from Daşoguz bound for Ashgabat. However, during the flight, the weather in Ashgabat deteriorated significantly, so at 16:10, the dispatcher instructed the crew to proceed to the alternate airport of Darvaza, where the aircraft landed at 16:35. The crew and passengers stayed overnight in Darvaza.

On the morning of 2 January, the first officer, Margiev, began preparing the aircraft for the flight to Ashgabat. He checked the engines' operation and, along with the airport's aircraft technician, drained and inspected the fuel sediment. The flight assignment lacked information on refueling, loading, and the aircraft's flight weight, but the airport chief nonetheless permitted the departure. The weather was clear and fine when at 07:57 MSK (09:57 local time) the Li-2, with 24 people on board, took off from Darvaza Airport heading south (heading 165°). However, both engines unexpectedly stopped, forcing the crew to prepare for an emergency landing. One or two minutes after takeoff, the descending aircraft with a slight angle and a 30° left bank crashed into a sand dune 4 kilometers from the airport and 600 meters to the right of the takeoff line. The impact completely destroyed and set the aircraft on fire. All 24 people on board perished (some sources report 28 fatalities). Among the victims was the People's Artist of the Turkmen SSR, Byashim Nurali.

Causes

The investigation revealed that the aircraft's engines were technically sound. Examination of the wreckage indicated that the four-way fuel valve was set to the right forward fuel tank instead of being switched to the left forward fuel tank. Calculations showed that there was not enough fuel in the right forward fuel tank even to gain altitude, and the crew failed to check this. Therefore, the commission concluded that the crew was at fault for the disaster by taking off with the fuel selector set to the right forward tank, violating the FOM. Part of the blame also lay with the management of the 165th Flight Squadron (Ashgabat Joint Aviation Squadron), which had failed to ensure that crews strictly followed the fuel management procedures outlined in the Li-2 FOM for various stages of flight.