Aeroflot Flight 343


Aeroflot Flight 343 was a passenger flight from Moscow-Sheremetyevo Airport to Jorge Chávez International Airport, on a stopover at Luxembourg-Findel International Airport, that veered off the runway on 29 September 1982, fatally injuring seven occupants. The Ilyushin Il-62M operating the flight suffered a mechanical failure.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was an Ilyushin Il-62M operated by Aeroflot, registered CCCP-86470. The aircraft rolled off the assembly line of the Kazan production facility in April 1977. At the time of the accident the aircraft had 10,325 flight hours.

Accident description

The flight was intended for the Moscow-Luxembourg-Havana-Lima route, but crashed on the first stopover in Luxembourg. The flight had 66 passengers and 11 crew members. The aircraft started experiencing technical difficulties on approach to landing. At an altitude of just above the runway and a speed of, with the engines set at 40% Nh, the thrust reversers on engines No. 1 and 4 were released; immediately thereafter the Il-62 suddenly began to pivot to the right. Five seconds later at a speed of, the crew increased power on engine No. 4 to 80% Nh and engine No. 1 – to 86% Nh, intending to re-align the aircraft with the runway. Instead, the deviation to the right only increased. Instead of stopping on the runway, the aircraft wing hit a water tower, then continued on, striking a small airport fence before it rolled into a small forest, damaged several trees, then fell into a small ravine 200 meters from the runway at 20:23 local time.

Causes

The investigation determined the probable cause of the accident to be mechanical failure of the thrust reversers on engine No.1: