Aeroflot Flight 2003 – Disaster Date: January 1, 1976 Location: Near Moscow, USSR Aircraft: Tupolev Tu-124V Operator: Aeroflot Fatalities: 61 of 61 on the Tu-124 Other involved aircraft include a Soviet Air Force Antonov An-24 with 15 fatalities. 76 out of 76 fatalities occurred in both aircraft. Cause: Mid-air collision due to Air Traffic Control (ATC) error Aircraft Type: Tupolev Tu-124V Registration: CCCP-45037 Flight Route: Minsk → Moscow-Vnukovo Occupants: 61 (55 passengers, 6 crew) Crash Site: Approximately 70 km southeast of Moscow.
01:21Other involved aircraft include a Soviet Air Force Antonev in 24 with 15 fatalities
01:2776 out of 76 fatalities occurred in both aircraft
01:32Cause, mid-air collision due to air traffic control, ATC, error
01:37Aircraft type, Tupolev 2124V
01:41Registration, CCCP 45037
01:45Flight route, Minsk-Moskownakovo
01:48Occupants, 61, 55 passengers, 6 crew
01:53Crash site, approximately 70 km southeast of Moscow
01:58On the very first day of 1976, tragedy struck Soviet airspace when Airfloat Flight 2003,
02:05A domestic passenger flight from Minsk to Moskownakovo Airport, collided mid-air with the Soviet Air Force Antonev in 24 near the town of Zeresk, southeast of Moscow
02:16Both aircraft were destroyed in the collision, resulting in the deaths of all passengers and crew on both planes
02:23Aircraft type
02:24Antonev in 24, military transport
02:28Operator, Soviet Air Force
02:32Occupants, 15, including crew and passengers
02:36Transport flight to a military airbase near Moscow as the mission
02:40Both aircraft were under the control of the same air traffic control sector and flying in the same gemo region near Moscow
02:47Flight 2003 was descending toward Nakovo Airport, while the N24 was flying a level military transport mission on a different trajectory
02:57Due to ineffective coordination and miscommunication between civilian and military air traffic control services, both aircraft were cleared into conflicting airspace
03:07Neither aircraft had TKAS, Traffic Collision Avoidance System, or transponders common in later decades
03:14Visibility was moderate, but not enough to allow for effective visual separation
03:20At an altitude of approximately 5,400 meters, 17,700 feet, the two aircraft collided almost head-on
03:29The 2124 broke apart in the air and crashed into the ground, the N24 also disintegrated
03:35Primary cause, air traffic control error, both military and civilian controllers failed to maintain proper separation
03:43Contributing factors
03:46Poor coordination between military and civil aviation authorities
03:51Lack of early warning systems and radar coverage
03:54Absence of modern navigational aids and traffic warning devices
03:59Soviet doctrine at the time permitted overlapping use of civilian and military airspace with inadequate deconfliction
