1974 Leningrad Aeroflot Il-18 crash
On 27 April 1974, an Aeroflot Il-18 airliner crashed while operating a charter flight from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) to Zaporizhzhia, continuing to Krasnodar, Russia. The plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Pulkovo Airport in Leningrad. None of the 109 people on board survived. An engine fire had been caused by a faulty compressor disk. Aircraft. The aircraft had been in service since 1964, and had sustained 7,501 cycles (takeoffs and landings) at the time of the crash. Passengers and crew. The flight was led by Captain Nikolai Danilov, with 4 other pilots and two  flight attendants. There were 102 passengers on board. Accident. The aircraft's number four engine caught fire two minutes after takeoff due to a faulty compressor disk. The crew elected to return to the airport. Upon extending the flaps for landing, an asymmetrical flap condition occurred, causing the aircraft to dive sharply about two and a half kilometers from the runway. Strong vibrations in the number four engine had been reported on the flight before the crash.