The crash of IL-62 near Damascus

The IL-62 with the hull number OK-DBF (factory - 31502, serial - 15-02) was released by the Kazan aircraft plant in 1973 and by September 17 transferred to the Czechoslovak Československé aerolinie as (ČSA) ^[2] . The airliner bore the name Brno Trade Fair ( Exhibition Fair in Brno ), and all in all at the time of the crash had about 4,000 flying hours ^[3] .

• The aircraft commander (FAC) is 54-year-old I. Gaidos ( czech J. Gajdoš ). Almost 19,000 hours of flight time, of which more than 3,000 hours on the IL-62.
• The co - pilot is the 50-year-old S. Zizka ( czech S. Žižka ). Almost 15,000 hours flown out, about 2900 hours of them on IL-62.
• The navigator - F. Aulik ( czech F. Aulík ).
• Flight engineer - Vl. Heyduk ( czech vl. Hejduk ).
• Short-haired man - K. Gasman ( czech K. Hasman ).
• Flight attendants
  • M. Petak (c . M. Peták ),
  • V. Vlakhov ( czech V. Vlachová ),
  • G. Shebestova (c . H. Šebestová ),
  • I. Dvorzhakov ( czech J. Dvořáková ),
  • M. Plescherova (c . M. Plescherová ),
  • J. Blagotova ( czech Z. Blahetová ).

At the same time, the pilots Gaidosh and Zizka, according to the recollections of their colleagues in the company, had a personal dislike for each other, down to hatred; moreover, Zizka was put in the crew at the very last moment.

The plane operated an international flight OK-540 on the route Prague - Damascus - Baghdad - Tehran . A total of 11 crew members and 117 passengers were aboard the aircraft. January 19 at 19:35 (18:35 UTC ) the IL-62 departed from Prague Airport ^{[3] [4]} .

Flight level was 210 (21 thousand feet or 6400 meters). After three and a half hours in the air, the plane approached the first intermediate stop, Damascus . At about 01:00 local time (22:00 UTC) after the flight of Beirut, the crew received instructions from the Lebanese dispatchers to switch to communication with the Syrian controllers. At 01:02, the crew contacted the control center in Damascus. The dispatcher gave the crew instructions for landing on the runway23R , after which he gave permission to descend to a height of 11 thousand feet (3350 meters), as well as a weather report: wind of 230 °, 10 knots (18 km / h), clearly, good visibility, airfield pressure of 1010 hPa . There was a clear, moonless night in Damascus ^[3] .

According to the landing approach, the aircraft had to fly eastward at an altitude of 4000 feet (1200 meters) above sea ​​level , pass a VOR , then make a left U-turn with a decline and, after re-passing the VOR, go to the preplant line. At 01:09 the crew reported on the approach to the VOR, after which the dispatcher of the Damascus airport gave permission to land. The crew confirmed the receipt of information and repeated the landing conditions: runway 23R, airfield pressure 1010 hPa. This was the last connection with flight OK-540.

After 4 minutes at 01:13 local time (August 19, 22:13 UTC), the left-turning IL-62 left in the dark 17 kilometers from the runway end crashed into the front landing gear and the left wing plane into the sand dune . The impact plane collapsed. Having crashed into the ground, the airliner collapsed and burned. The total scatter of debris was almost a kilometer in length. Due to the inaccessibility of the place, the rescue services arrived only after 45 minutes. Among the wreckage were found two survivors: a little girl (according to some sources, a resident of Czechoslovakia , on the other - Jordan ) and a 30-year-old Arab student. Another surviving girl was also found, but later in the hospital she died from her injuries. In total, 126 people died in the crash: 115 passengers, among them the famous Polish theater and opera director Konrad Svinarsky , and all 11 crew members ^[3] . This is the largest aviation accident in Syria and in the history of the Czechoslovak / Czech airline ČSA , as well as the fifth (at the time of the events - the third) largest Il-62 crash ^[4] .

The investigation of the disaster was complicated by the fact that the magnetic tapes of the flight recorders were damaged in a fire. Medical examination showed that the co-pilot was piloting at that moment, as the commander was in a relaxed state. Alcohol was also detected in the commander’s blood. As it was later established, he drank beer , but at that time it was allowed. The very same flight path indicated that a typical collision with the ground took place in a controlled flight , that is, the pilots did not know their real altitude. Barometric altimeter commander survived and had the correct settings. However, the co-pilot was driving the plane at that moment, and its altimeter was destroyed. It is very likely that when the pressure was set at the altimeter, the co-pilot mistakenly set the pressure of the sea level, not the level of the aerodrome, which underestimated the true height by 2,000 feet (610 meters) - the height of the aerodrome above sea level. This was facilitated by the fact that in low cockpit lighting the numbers 0, 6 and 9 could be confused. The interpersonal relations of the pilots also played a role, as a result of which the commander did not help the second pilot in this situation and did not warn him about the dangerous height. Damascus Airport was equipped with a secondary radar , so the dispatcher could not see the IL-62 falling below the glide path and could not warn the crew ^[3] .

The final report indicated that the most likely cause of the disaster was exposure of sea level pressure to altimeters instead of airfield pressure. About the problems of interaction between crew members in the report was not even mentioned ^{[3] [4]} .

There is a theory that the IL-62 was intended to be shot down by Syrian troops. Just a few days before the catastrophe in Prague , the Embassy of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) opened - it is very likely that, having shot down the Czechoslovak plane, Syria wanted to protest this decision. This theory became widespread due to the fact that 40 days later ( September 30 ) when landing at Beirut airport under unclear circumstances , the Tu-154 crashed (flight MA-240) of the Hungarian company Malév , and this catastrophe occurred the next day How the PLO embassy was opened in Budapest ^{[3] [5]} .

The theory that the Czechoslovak Il-62 was shot down has not yet found either a confirmation or a refutation ^[5] .