page_title: 1973 Paris Air Show Tu-144 crash
section_title: Accident
hierarchical_section_title: 1973 Paris Air Show Tu-144 crash / Accident
caption_attribution_description: English: “A Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic transport in mid-air”. A Tupolev Tu-144 Charger supersonic transport during a test flight. Русский: «В небе пассажирский самолёт "ТУ-144"». Серийный пассажирский самолёт "ТУ-144" во время испытательного полёта. Россия
context_page_description: The 1973 Paris Air Show Tu-144 crash was the crash of the second production Tupolev Tu-144 at Goussainville, Val-d'Oise, France, which killed all six crew and eight people on the ground. The crash, at the Paris Air Show on Sunday, 3 June 1973, damaged the development program of the Tupolev Tu-144.
  One theory is that a French Mirage jet sent to photograph the aircraft without the knowledge of the Soviet crew caused the pilots to take evasive manoeuvres, resulting in the crash. Another theory is that in a rivalry with the Anglo-French Concorde, the pilots attempted a manoeuvre that was beyond the capabilities of the aircraft.
context_section_description: The aircraft involved was Tupolev Tu-144S CCCP-77102, manufacturer's serial number 01–2, the second production Tu-144. The aircraft had first flown on 29 March 1972. This aircraft had been modified compared to the initial prototype to include landing gear that retracted into the nacelles, and retractable canards. The pilot was Mikhail Kozlov, and the co-pilot was Valery M. Molchanov. Also on board were G. N. Bazhenov, the flight navigator, V. N. Benderov, deputy chief designer and engineer major-general, B. A. Pervukhin, senior engineer, and A. I. Dralin, flight engineer. The crash occurred in front of 250,000 people, including designer Alexei Tupolev, towards the end of the show.
  During the show, there was a "fierce competition between the Anglo-French Concorde and the Russian Tu-144". The Soviet pilot, Mikhail Kozlov, had bragged that he would outperform the Concorde.  "Just wait until you see us fly," he was quoted as saying. "Then you'll see something." On the final day of the show, the Concorde, which was not yet in production, performed its demonstration flight first. Its performance was later described as being unexciting, and it has been theorized that Kozlov was determined to show how much better his aircraft was.
  Once in flight, the aircraft made what appeared to be a landing approach, with the landing gear out and the "moustache" canards extended, but then with all four engines full power, climbed rapidly. Possibly stalling below 2,000 ft (610 m), the aircraft pitched over and went into a steep dive. Trying to pull out of the subsequent dive with the engines again at full power, the Tu-144 broke up in mid-air, possibly due to overstressing the airframe. The left wing came away first, and then the aircraft disintegrated and crashed, destroying 15 houses, and killing all six people on board the Tu-144 and eight more on the ground. Three children were among those killed, and 60 people received severe injuries.
caption: CCCP-77102, the Tupolev Tu-144S involved in the accident, photographed in May 1973
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