1978 Yegoryevsk Tupolev Tu-144 crash

1978 Yegoryevsk Tupolev Tu-144 crash
CCCP-77110, sister aircraft to the Tu-144 involved in the crash
Accident
Date23 May 1978
SummaryCrash landing following in-flight fire due to fuel leak
Site
Aircraft
Aircraft typeTupolev Tu-144D
OperatorAeroflot
RegistrationCCCP-77111
Flight originRamenskoye Airport
DestinationRamenskoye Airport
Occupants8
Crew8
Fatalities2
Survivors6

During a test flight of a Tupolev Tu-144 on 23 May 1978, the aircraft suffered a fuel leak, which led to an in-flight fire in the right wing, forcing the shutdown of two of the aircraft's four engines. One of the two remaining engines subsequently failed, forcing the crew to make a belly landing in a field near Yegoryevsk, Moscow Oblast. Two flight engineers were killed in the ensuing crash, but the remaining six crew members survived. The accident prompted a ban on passenger flights of the Tu-144, which had already been beset by numerous problems, leading to a lack of interest that ultimately resulted in the Tu-144 program's cancellation.