Legendary splashdown of Tu-124 on the Neva

From the FLB archive: on August 21, 1963, due to an accident, a Tu-124 passenger plane smoothly landed between the Bolsheokhtinsky and Finlyandsky bridges. Fortunately, a tugboat built in 1898 was sailing along the Neva.

"The Americans have another reason for national pride. The US Airways Airbus 320 made a" jewelery landing "on the Hudson River right in the city limits of New York. The whole world watched this flight incident live. Everything ended well - almost 150 passengers and the crew members survived.

But at the same time, what is important for us Russians? Do not forget about your roots and historical achievements. Federal Investigation Agency reminds: the world's first successful splashdown of a passenger plane was made not by the Americans on the Hudson in January 2009, but by our valiant and glorious Aeroflot pilots in August 1963.

Here is what the newspaper "Petrovsky Courier" wrote about this ten years ago (and, actually, the first to tell about this secret splashdown back in the late 80s was the correspondent of "Komsomolskaya Pravda" Sergei Razin). Be sure to read to the end the second article "Airplane on the Neva: new details" and you, too, will have a reason for national pride. Personally, I especially liked the behavior of the 2nd pilot V. Chechnev, a former seaplane pilot, and the captain of the tug, built in 1898, Yuri Porshin. And, by the way, the ship's commander, Viktor Mostovy, who made this splashdown was then only 27 years old:

THE PLANE COULD FALL ON THE CITY, BUT VILLAGE ... ON THE NEVA

Material provided by Evgeny Malashenkov.

“In September 1963, rumors about a unique state of emergency spread throughout Leningrad. The silver passenger liner, having made about a dozen circles over the city, suddenly descended and landed directly on the waters of the Neva.

After some time, the Leningraders saw that the plane was being towed along the water somewhere to the mouth of the Neva. They thought it was filming a naughty comedy like "Striped Flight" or a test of special equipment. But later they began to say that this plane was a regular one, there were passengers in it, and for their salvation the hero-commander of the ship was awarded the Order of the Red Star. So what happened?

The Tu-124 passenger "board" under the command of Viktor Yakovlevich Mostovoy, assigned to the Tallinn squadron and sailing from Tallinn to Moscow on August 21, 1963, was approaching Leningrad. Suddenly, the crew reported on the radio that one of the "legs" of the landing gear had stuck and a normal intermediate landing was impossible ...

Honored Pilot of the USSR, Professor of the Academy of Civil Aviation Anatoly Ivanovich Orkin believes that the commander of the crew Mostovoy and his subordinates should have been severely punished for sloppiness, and not rewarded. He clearly remembers the scandal surrounding the landing on the Neva.

Initially, the deputy head of the Leningrad Civil Aviation Directorate, Vladimir Vasilyevich Sirotin, wanted to send the plane back to Tallinn - land there, they say. But then, taking into account the peculiarities of the Tallinn airfield, they decided to land it on an emergency dirt strip outside the city using a well-proven technology - "on the belly." They drove up fire trucks and an ambulance. And so that the landing would not threaten an explosion, the ship's captain was given the command to "run out of fuel." The plane was supposed to circle over the city until the tanks were almost empty. Then Mostovoy had to land.

At that time, planes were still allowed to fly over Leningrad at an altitude of about 400 meters (but after this incident, the boundaries of the flight outside the city limits were determined), and the silvery bird, without causing much excitement, circled in the sky for a long time. Then the following came out. "Board" panickedly announced that the fuel was used up ... completely, and there was no minimum fuel for the landing approach. This meant that the crew got carried away, missed the fuel consumption and the car could now collapse on the houses ... Fortunately, the Neva turned out to be below. And the Tu-124 landed between the Bolsheokhtinsky and Finlyandsky bridges.

The captain of the boat, who was sailing along the Neva, got his bearings in time, propped up one wing of the Tu-124 and began to push the car towards the shore. Passengers and crew got off. Interestingly, the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet of the USSR immediately regarded Mostovoy's "feat" as sloppiness. And the Tallinn squadron then expelled this pilot. But, according to a strange logic (foreigners were saved, there was a fuss about the feat), the ship's commander was awarded. Soon Mostovoy came to Leningrad to study at the Academy of Civil Aviation. He behaved arrogantly, grabbed "twos" and was expelled. Nobody regretted him ...

A former employee of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU, who asked not to give his name, helped us to clarify the situation with the award. “Firstly, following the fresh trail, we immediately reported to the Central Committee of the CPSU about the feat of the pilot Mostovoy. Secondly, the Tupolev Design Bureau enthusiastically commented on the high buoyancy of the Soviet jet engine, thanks to which people were saved. Thirdly, the newspapers managed to ring the bell about the feat of the crew. So what, judge or reward? They gave the pilot an order. "

And the plane was taken out on pontoons to the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, then its tracks were lost. Maybe our publication will allow this story to continue? Witnesses, answer me! "
Vladimir Fedorov, newspaper "Petrovsky Courier" No. 39 (209) dated October 19, 1998

AIRPLANE ON THE NEVA: NEW DETAILS

“The 35-year-old retro sensation associated with the emergency landing of a passenger plane on the Neva River (Petrovsky Courier, October 19, 1998) revived something like“ the national pride of the Great Russians ”in the souls of Petersburgers. 140 (!) Witnesses of the Tu-124 splashdown called the editorial office, the sailors who directly rescued the passengers, the squadron workers and those specialists who evacuated and disassembled the winged aircraft appeared. Now we can draw a complete picture of the incident, highlight what the central and Leningrad newspapers were silent about for censorship reasons in 1963.

Then "Tu-124" was a "raw", unfinished machine, a freshly baked brainchild of the Tupolev design bureau. While trying to land in Tallinn, he lost a ball bolt (it was later lifted on the runway), and the car with a faulty chassis was sent to Leningrad - to sit “on its belly” on a dirt road at Pulkovo. In flight, the pilots tried to "knock out" the jammed landing gear and even cut through the bottom of the fuselage... But nothing helped!

The flight director of Pulkovo airport, Georgy Narbut, on that day gave the crew the command to act according to the instructions - to burn out the fuel to a reserve of one ton. But the trouble is that the fuel gauges on board could not objectively indicate how much fuel was left! And landing in violation of the instructions with a reserve of at least 1200, 1300 kilograms of "fuel" threatened the pilots with demotion.

“Land at the airfield,” Narbut gave the command. But the flight mechanic said to the captain of the ship Viktor Mostovy: "Vitya, there is a reserve stock in the tanks, my extra ton." “I'm going one more circle,” the commander said to the ground. But the flight "at random" almost turned into a disaster. One after another, two engines stalled - there was no fuel just above the "headquarters of the revolution" - Smolny. "Get on the water!" - Shouted to Mostovy the co-pilot, a former seaplane pilot.

The commander ordered the crew to go to the cabin and "distract" the passengers with conversations, while he himself began to glide in the air, as far as possible in a heavy vehicle. It was impossible to make mistakes!

The crew flew four meters above the Alexander Nevsky bridge under construction(workers fell from the forests in horror), saw the contours of the Finland railway bridge and shrank in fear: we will crash! But the car touched the Neva with its tail, then plopped down with its belly, dived slightly and froze ... a hundred meters from the bridge pillars. They say that 27-year-old Viktor Mostovoy turned gray in those seconds.

But the danger did not go away. The weathered fuselage began to collect water, and the depth of the Neva here is 13 meters. Fortunately, a tugboat built in 1898 was sailing along the Neva. with a team of four and meekly dragged the floatable raft. We saw the plane. Someone cheerfully shouted: "In, the second Chkalov showed up!" But Captain Yuri Porshin appreciated the serious situation: he ordered to drop the towing rope and leave the raft.

The captain brought the tug to the car and shouted to the pilots: "How to hook you?" After some consultation, they broke the cockpit cap and hooked the cable to the pilots' controls. The plane was pulled up to the pier at the Severny Press plant, where rafts were stationed along the coast. The wing of the plane, bent when hitting the water, neatly lay down on the rafts, forming something like a ladder. Passengers - forty-four people, including two children - began to leave through the top hatch, carrying their belongings. They were calm.

Hundreds of passers-by on the shore, workers of neighboring factories, who ran out of the checkpoints, shouted "Hurray!" The crew came out. They applauded him. A helicopter rushed from Pulkovo, some strict chief ordered the pilots to sit down together with flight documents. Mostovoi, a handsome and slender man, behaved emphatically calm. The helicopter departed. A young steward remained from the crew, guarding the luggage. Then the PAZ bus arrived and took the passengers to the airport, from where they were sent to Tallinn..

A steamer came with a weir and began to pump water out of the plane. But it was useless, water came from the holes. And the Tu-124 sank by morning. On the next day, pontoons were brought under the plane and sent by tug to the territory of the present "Lenexpo", to the Shkipersky channel, where the military unit was based. After the commission, a decision was made: to write off the car due to breakdowns. The cockpit was disconnected from it and sent as a simulator to the Tambov region, to the Kirsanovskaya aviation school. Beautiful soft armchairs were sold to everyone for the price of a bottle of vodka. The fuselage lay on the shore for a long time, then it was cut into scrap metal ...

Viktor Mostovoy was awarded the Order of the Red Star, and his crew was awarded medals. According to some reports, Mostovoy, after an unsuccessful study at the Academy of Civil Aviation, left for the Krasnodar air squadron. The captain of the tugboat Porshin was awarded a Certificate of Merit and a watch.

That's the whole story. Thanks to those who told it: the former flight director of the Pulkovo airport G. M. Narbut, the commander of the Burevestnik ship A. L. Demin, the sergeant major of the 1st class S. B. Vershler, the former captain of the tug Y. V. Porshin , former worker of the military unit V. I. Ivanov, pilot V. I. Antipenko, as well as dozens of Petersburgers who called the editorial office.

Vladimir Fedorov, newspaper "Petrovsky Courier" No. 41 (211) of November 2, 1998)
Photo from the archive of Sergei Vershler

ALARM TECHNICAL DETAILS

Based on the materials "Aviation accidents, incidents and plane crashes in the USSR and Russia"

Accident of Tu-124 of the Moscow TU GA in Leningrad. Flooding on the Neva.

Incident type: accident
Date: August 21, 1963
Time: 12:15
Country: USSR
Location: Leningrad
Aircraft type: Tu-124
Aircraft Registration: CCCP-45021
Airline: Aeroflot (USSR)
Subdivision: Moscow TU GA, Vnukovsky OJSC

After takeoff during retraction, the front landing gear stuck in a semi-retracted position. Landing at the airport of departure was impossible because of the fog, so the plane was directed to the Pulkovo alternate airfield. Having reached Leningrad, the crew began to fly in a circle in the waiting area, producing fuel. On the eighth lap, when the fuel gauges left about 750 liters (much more than the emergency remainder), the left engine suddenly stopped. The crew was cleared to land from a straight line. In this case, the plane was over the city center. At that moment, at an altitude of about 500 m, the second engine also failed. The crew decided to make a splashdown to the surface of the Neva. The plane safely landed on the water from the Bolsheokhtinsky bridge and stopped on the surface of the river near the Finland railway bridge (the width of the river in this place is about 400 m). Tu-124 remained afloat. Passengers and crew were evacuated by the approached tug. The aircraft was subsequently taken ashore and transferred to the Kirsanov ATU GA as a training manual.

Information about the victims

Crew - 7
Passengers - 45
Nobody died

Established causes of accident - crew error, equipment failure, ATC error

Conclusions of the commission investigating the accident - Shutdown of both engines due to full use of fuel. The crew incorrectly set the remaining fuel, and therefore the fuel gauge gave overestimated readings.

Crew details

FAC Viktor Mostovoy
Co-pilot V. Chechnev
V. Tsarev
I. Permin
V. Smirnov
Flight attendant A. Alexandrova

From ed. FLB: Agree, there is reason for national pride. The only pity is that our memory, historical memory, is so short. "
16.01.2009

From the FLB dossier
Anodina Tatiana Grigorievna - Chairman of the IAC