Tupolev Tu - 134 The Tupolev Tu - 134 ( NATO reporting name : Crusty ) is a twin - engined airliner , similar to the French Sud Aviation Caravelle and the later - designed American Douglas DC - 9 , and built in the Soviet Union from 1966 to 1984 . The original version featured a glazed - nose design and , like certain other Russian airliners ( including its sister model the Tu - 154 ) , it can operate from unpaved airfields . One of the most widely used aircraft in former Warsaw Pact countries , the number in active service is decreasing because of noise restrictions . The model has seen long - term service with some 42 countries , with some European airlines having scheduled as many as 12 daily takeoffs and landings per plane . In addition to regular passenger service , it has also been used in various air force , army and navy support roles ; for pilot and navigator training ; and for aviation research and test projects . In recent years , a number of Tu - 134s have been converted for use as VIP transports and business jets . A total of 852 Tu - 134s were built of all versions ( including test bed examples ) with Aeroflot as the largest user ; by 1995 , the Tu - 134 had carried 360 million passengers for that airline . Design and development . Following the introduction of engines mounted on pylons on the rear fuselage by the French Sud Aviation Caravelle , airliner manufacturers around the world rushed to adopt the new layout . Its advantages included clean wing airflow without disruption by nacelles or pylons and decreased cabin noise . At the same time , placing heavy engines that far back created challenges with the location of the center of gravity in relation to the center of lift , which was at the wings . To make room for the engines , the tailplanes had to be relocated to the tail fin , which had to be stronger and therefore heavier , further compounding the tail - heavy arrangement . During a 1960 visit to France , Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was so impressed by the quiet cabin of the Caravelle , that on 1 August 1960 the Tupolev OKB received an official directive to create the Tu - 124A with a similar engine arrangement . The requirement was also driven by the need to replace slow , aging piston - engined Il - 14 s on domestic routes . In 1961 , the Soviet state airline , Aeroflot , updated its requirement specifications to include greater payload and passenger capacity . The first Tu - 124A prototype , SSSR - 45075 , first flew on 29 July 1963 . Then , on 22 October 1963 , the British BAC One - Eleven , which had a similar layout , crashed with the loss of all crew . The aircraft had stalled shortly after takeoff and entered pitch - up : The high - mounted tailplane became trapped in the turbulent wake produced by the wings ( see deep stall ) , which prevented recovery from the stall . As a result , the tailplane on Tu - 124A was enlarged by 30 % for greater control authority . Since Aeroflot ' s requirements dictated a larger aircraft than initially planned , the Soloviev design bureau developed the more powerful D - 30 low - bypass turbofan engines . On 20 November 1963 , the new airliner was officially designated Tu - 134 . Design curiosities of the Tu - 134 included a sharp wing sweepback of 35 degrees , compared to 25 – 28 degrees in its counterparts . The engines on early production Tu - 134s lacked thrust reversers , which made the aircraft one of the few airliners to use a brake parachute for landing . The majority of onboard electronics operated on direct current . The lineage of early Soviet airliners could be traced directly to the Tupolev Tu - 16 strategic bomber , and the Tu - 134 carried over the glass nose for the navigator and the landing gear fitted with low - pressure tires to permit operation from unpaved airfields . Serial production began in 1966 at the Kharkov Aviation Production Association , and production of the Tu - 126 was discontinued . The Tu - 134 was designed for short - haul lines with low passenger traffic . Originally the aircraft had 56 seats in a single class configuration , or 50 seats in a two - class configuration . In 1968 , Tupolev began work on an improved Tu - 134 variant with a 72 seat capacity . The fuselage received a plug for greater passenger capacity and an auxiliary power unit in the tail . As a result , the maximum range was reduced from 3100 kilometers to 2770 kilometers . The upgraded D - 30 engines now featured thrust reversers , replacing the cumbersome parachute . The first Tu - 134A , converted from a production Tu - 134 , flew on 22 April 1969 . The first airline flight was on 9 November 1970 . An upgraded version , the Tu - 134B began production in 1980 , with the navigator position finally abandoned , and seating capacity increased to 96 seats . Efforts subsequently began to develop a Tu - 134D with increased engine thrust , but the project was cancelled . Operational history . In September 1967 , the Tu - 134 made its first scheduled flight from Moscow to Adler . The Tu - 134 was the first Soviet airliner to receive international certification from the International Civil Aviation Organization , which permitted it to be used on international routes . Due to this certification , Aeroflot used most of its Tu - 134s on international routes . In 1968 , the first export customers , Interflug of East Germany and LOT Polish Airlines purchased the Tu - 134 . In spring , 1969 , the Tu - 134 was displayed at the Paris Air Show . From 1972 , Aeroflot began placing the Tu - 134 in domestic service to Baku , Yerevan , Kiev , Kishinev , Krasnodar , Leningrad , Omsk , Riga , and Sochi from Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow . In its early years , the Tu - 134 developed a reputation for reliability and efficiency , especially when compared with previous Soviet designs . However , after the establishment of tougher noise standards in the ICAO regulations in 2002 , the Tu - 134 was banned from most western European airports for its high noise levels . As late as early 2006 , 245 Tu - 134s were still in operation , 162 of which were in Russia . However , after a fatal accident in March 2007 , and at the instigation of Russian Minister of Transportation Igor Levitin , Aeroflot announced that it would be retiring its fleet , and the last Tu - 134 was removed from service on 1 January 2008 . However , some are still in operations with Aeroflot subsidiaries on local routes within Russia . The Tu - 134 also found a new life as a business jet with many having an expensive business interior installed . High fuel and maintenance costs are increasingly limiting the number used today . In June 2011 , as a response to RusAir Flight 9605 which resulted in 47 fatalities , Russian president Dmitry Medvedev ordered preparations for taking the Tu - 134 out of use by 2012 . Many Tu - 134s have been preserved as memorials at airports throughout the former Soviet Union . Operators . Civil operators . As of 5 July 2011 a total of 233 Tupolev Tu - 134 aircraft ( all variants ) remain in airline service . Major operators include : Accidents and incidents . Some 69 Tu - 134 have been destroyed in accidents and wars , of which 35 were non - fatal incidents ( in one of the remaining 34 fatal incidents no one on the plane died ) . Source : Aircraft Accident Database