# Aeroflot Flight 343

Aeroflot Flight 343 was a passenger flight from Moscow-Sheremetyevo Airport to Jorge Chávez International Airport, on a stopover at Luxembourg-Findel International Airport, that veered off the runway on 29 September 1982, fatally injuring seven occupants. The Ilyushin Il-62M operating the flight suffered a mechanical failure.

## Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved in the accident was an Ilyushin Il-62M operated by Aeroflot, registered CCCP-86470. The aircraft rolled off the assembly line of the Kazan production facility in April 1977. At the time of the accident, the aircraft had 10,325 flight hours.
The crew members consisted of 6 pilots and 5 flight attendants:
The captain, aged 47, had a total of 9,487 flight hours including 3,168 hours on the Ilyushin Il-62M; the first officer, aged 55, had a total of 10,441 flight hours including 3,605 hours on the Il-62M; the flight engineer, aged 46, had a total of 7,565 flight hours including 2,893 hours on the Il-62M; the radio operator, aged 34, had a total of 1,282 flight hours, all of which were on the Il-62M; the navigator, aged 46, had a total of 8,527 flight hours, including 2,698 hours on the Il-62M; and an extra pilot, a 58-year-old flight instructor, had 8,701 total flight hours, with 4,102 hours on the Il-62M.

## Accident description

With 66 passengers on-board, the flight was intended for the Moscow-Luxembourg-Havana-Lima route but crashed on the first stopover in Luxembourg. The aircraft started experiencing technical difficulties on approach to landing. At an altitude of just 5 m (16 ft) above the runway and a speed of 278 km/h (173 mph; 150 kn), with the engines set at 40% Nh, the thrust reversers on engines No. 1 and 4 were released; immediately thereafter the Il-62 suddenly began to pivot to the right. Five seconds later at a speed of 265 km/h (165 mph; 143 kn), the crew increased power on engine No. 4 to 80% Nh and engine No. 1 – to 86% Nh, intending to re-align the aircraft with the runway. Instead, the deviation to the right only increased. Instead of stopping on the runway, the aircraft wing hit a water tower, then continued on, striking a small airport fence before it rolled into a small forest, damaged several trees, then fell into a small ravine 200 meters from the runway at 20:23 local time.

## Aftermath

The Soviet Government expressed its condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims.

## Causes

The investigation determined the probable cause of the accident to be mechanical failure of the thrust reversers on engine No.1:
   French: L'accident peut être attribué à une panne mécanique affectant le mécanisme de commande des inverseurs de poussée survenue dans la phase la plus critique de l'atterrissage. Cette panne, soudaine et imprévisible, n'a pas été identifiée par l'équipage et a rendu l'avion incontrôlable en direction pendant l'exécution de la procédure normal d'atterrissage.
   [The accident may be attributed to a mechanical failure affecting the mechanism of controlling thrust which occurred during the most critical phase of landing. This failure, sudden and unpredictable, was not identified by the crew and made the aircraft uncontrollable in direction during the execution of the normal landing procedure.]