Summary Unknown Crew 8 Aircraft type Ilyushin Il-18 Date 3 March 1973 Operator Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Survivor 0 | Passengers 17 Survivors 0 Registration LZ-BEM Site Soviet Union Fatalities 25 Passenger count 17 | |
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Similar Aeroflot Flight 141, Aeroflot Flight 3932, Ozark Air Lines Flight 809, Invicta International Airlines Fl, Pan Am Flight 816 | ||
Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Moscow in the Soviet Union, that crashed on its final approach to Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on 3 March 1973, killing all 25 passengers and crew on board.
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Aircraft
The aircraft involved was an Ilyushin Il-18V, registration LZ-BEM. With manufacturer's serial number 182005602, it first flew in 1962.
Description of the accident
The aircraft was completing an international Sofia–Moscow scheduled passenger service. It was on its second landing attempt after a missed approach when it started to lose height. A nose dive shortly followed. The aircraft crashed into the ground, disintegrating and catching fire. There were no survivors among the fourteen passengers and a crew of seven on board. The accident marked the 60th loss of an Ilyushin Il-18. It was also the 24th worst accident involving the type at the time of the accident; as of July 2014, the event is the 35th deadliest one involving an Il-18.
Icing was later determined as the possible cause of the accident.