Aeroflot Flight 773. Aeroflot Flight 773 was a scheduled domestic Soviet Union passenger flight from Moscow to Simferopol that crashed following a bomb explosion on 10 October 1971.

Aircraft
The aircraft involved was a Tupolev Tu-104B registered as СССР-42490 to the Ukraine Civil Aviation Directorate of Aeroflot. Initially built in a 100 passenger configuration, the Tu-104 was later converted to a 115 passenger configuration. At the time of the accident, the aircraft had logged 13,062 flight hours and 10,452 pressurization cycles.

Crew
Seven crew members were aboard the flight. The cockpit crew consisted of:
Captain Konstantin Romanovich Klyushnik
Co-pilot Anatoly Yefimovich Vorobevsky
Navigator Vladimir Alekseevich Solodyannikov
Flight engineer Valentin Alekseevich Bezrodny
Radio operator Viktor Ivanovich Obedkov 
The two flight attendants consisted of Svetlana Vladimirovna Papushina and Boris Nesterovich Marchenko.

A policeman was also on board, but was counted as a passenger in the report.

Synopsis
The aircraft arrived at Moscow from Simferopol at 19:02, after which the aircraft was prepared for the return trip to Simferopol. Weather conditions at the time were overcast with low clouds and a visibility of 6 kilometers. Flight 773 took off from Vnukovo Airport at 20:16. Thirty-one seconds later the crew contacted ATC and reported that they were heading for Chornaya Gryaz. The controller ordered the aircraft to climb to . At 20:16:44 the controller contacted Flight 773 asking them if they had passed through , but there was no response. The controller attempted several times to contact the crew without success.

Just seconds after the crew reported to the controller about the takeoff, an explosion tore through the aircraft, damaging the left side of the fuselage and supports to the left wing and severing control cables to the tail. The aircraft began rolling to the right with a loss of altitude. Seven kilometers from the airport at  the cargo hold collapsed and some passenger seats were thrown out. Some  later, the aircraft crashed at a speed of  at an angle of 10-14° in a 90° right bank near the village of Baranovo, Naro-Fominsky District, some  southwest of Vnukovo Airport. All 25 people on board died, including film actress Raisa Zvereva.

Investigation
An investigation showed that debris that fell from the aircraft before the crash showed signs of fire damage. Fragments of TNT were also found. It was concluded that the explosion was the result of a bomb that was located in the luggage compartment; however, it was later revealed that a bomb of 400–800 grams of TNT was placed in a hand baggage on the cabin floor, probably under seat 45. The investigation finished in 1973 without finding the suspect who placed the bomb.

References

External links
Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network

Unsolved airliner bombings
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1971
Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union
20th-century aviation accidents and incidents in Russia
773
1971 in Russia
1971 in the Soviet Union
Accidents and incidents involving the Tupolev Tu-104
October 1971 events in the Soviet Union
Mass murder in 1971
Terrorist incidents in the Soviet Union
Terrorist incidents in Russia