page_title: Aeroflot Flight 3739 (1988)
hierarchical_section_title: Aeroflot Flight 3739 (1988)
caption_attribution_description: English: An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154B at Zürich Airport (ZRH / LSZH). This aircraft crashed on 7 December 1995.
context_page_description: Aeroflot Flight 3739 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight from Irkutsk to Leningrad with a stopover in Kurgan. On March 8, 1988, after the Tupolev Tu-154 operating the flight had left Kurgan for Leningrad, it was hijacked by the Ovechkin family, whose members sought an escape from the Soviet Union. They were born in Sosnovka. The hijackers demanded the crew fly the aircraft to London. The flight engineer persuaded the hijackers to allow a stopover in Finland for refueling. The aircraft in fact landed at the Soviet military airbase Veshchevo, near the Finnish border, where it was stormed by the incident response team of the Soviet interior ministry. During the incident four hostages died and five hijackers committed suicide. Two surviving prosecutable members of the Ovechkin family were sentenced to eight and six years in prison, respectively. One of the crew was awarded the Order of the Red Banner as a result of the incident.
context_section_description: Aeroflot Flight 3739 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight from Irkutsk to Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) with a stopover in Kurgan. On March 8, 1988, after the Tupolev Tu-154 operating the flight had left Kurgan for Leningrad, it was hijacked by the Ovechkin family, whose members sought an escape from the Soviet Union. They were born in Sosnovka (now Perm Krai). The hijackers demanded the crew fly the aircraft to London. The flight engineer persuaded the hijackers to allow a stopover in Finland for refueling. The aircraft in fact landed at the Soviet military airbase Veshchevo, near the Finnish border, where it was stormed by the incident response team of the Soviet interior ministry. During the incident four hostages died and five hijackers committed suicide. Two surviving prosecutable members of the Ovechkin family were sentenced to eight and six years in prison, respectively. One of the crew was awarded the Order of the Red Banner as a result of the incident.
caption: Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-154B, similar to that involved in the accident
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