1958 Aeroflot Tu-104 Kanash crash

1958 Aeroflot Tu-104 Kanash crash
An Aeroflot Tu-104A, similar to the one involved in the accident
Accident
Date17 October 1958
SummarySevere turbulence leading to loss of control
Site
  • 17 miles west of Kanash, Chuvashia, Soviet Union
  • 58°28′31″N 47°7′22″E / 58.47528°N 47.12278°E / 58.47528; 47.12278
Aircraft
Aircraft typeTupolev Tu-104A
OperatorAeroflot
RegistrationCCCP-42362
Flight originBeijing International Airport
StopoverOmsk Airport
DestinationMoscow-Vnukovo Airport
Occupants80
Passengers71
Crew9
Fatalities80
Survivors0

The 1958 Aeroflot Tu-104 Kanash crash occurred on 17 October 1958 when a Tupolev Tu-104A operated by Aeroflot flying an international route from Beijing to Moscow crashed in bad weather near the town of Kanash, Chuvashia, Soviet Union, four hundred miles east of Moscow, killing all 80 people on board. The flight was carrying high-level diplomatic delegations from numerous Soviet aligned countries such as China, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia. It was just the second fatal accident involving the Tu-104 which had been introduced into Aeroflot's inventory two years earlier, and the deadliest in the airline's history until the crash of Aeroflot Flight 902 in 1962.