​​The passenger spent the entire flight hanging upside down outside the aircraft

On October 13, 1977, a Yak-40K (K - convertible modification for cargo-passenger transportation) operated by Aeroflot was flying from Rostov-on-Don to Nikolaev. There were 22 people on board: 18 passengers and 4 crew members.

The aircraft took off and began to climb. When it reached an altitude of 250-300 meters, the cargo hatch, located at the front of the aircraft, suddenly opened. Upon opening, it was caught by the rushing airflow in the upper position. Two rows of seats (second and third) were attached to the hatch. They were immediately torn from their mounts and pulled outside along with the passengers. There, they flipped over and hung almost upside down on the hatch.

In the third row sat a woman and her six-year-old son. The child's seatbelt was adjusted for an adult, and the mother's seatbelt was fastened with a non-standard bolt that came loose from its attachment. Therefore, they both fell from their seats and died. The man sitting in the second row managed to stay in his seat and ended up hanging upside down.

The crew reported the emergency to the ground and began the approach for landing. When the aircraft touched down and slowed down, the rushing airflow also decreased, causing the cargo hatch to descend. The passengers were able to pull the man hanging on it inside and provide assistance to him. Except for the mother and child from the third row, no one else on board died.

During the investigation, it was found that the day before, the aircraft had operated a cargo flight, during which the passenger seats had been removed. The aircraft modification allowed for such operation. After the cargo flight, maintenance staff at Rostov airport converted the aircraft back to the passenger configuration and installed seats in the cabin.

However, after completing the work, the technicians did not check the reliability of the cargo hatch closure and did not monitor it through the cockpit warning system. The aircraft mechanic also did not check the hatch closure position or the warning system before takeoff. The captain and the firs officer only visually inspected the cargo hatch cover from the outside and did not notice anything. As a result, during the flight at an altitude of 250-300 meters, the pressure difference inside and outside the aircraft pushed the cargo hatch outward.

A year later, the same aircraft had an accident in the Krasnodar region during an emergency landing outside the aerodrome and sustained damage that rendered it unfit for further operation.