Snow-Covered Field

On 13 January 1990, an Aeroflot Tu-134A departed Tyumen for Volgograd with an intermediate stop in Ufa. There were 65 passengers and six crew members on board.

After climbing to 10,650 meters, the cockpit warning system indicated “Fire in the aft baggage compartment.” The flight engineer grabbed a fire extinguisher and went to inspect the compartment. It was indeed filled with smoke, but he could not identify the source. Meanwhile, the fire began damaging wiring. As a result, the flight recorders were lost, and several warnings activated spuriously. Despite this, the aircraft remained fully controllable.

The crew reported an on-board fire to ATC and received clearance for an emergency descent and diversion to Sverdlovsk. Due to cloud cover, the aircraft’s radar return was intermittent, so the controller was able to provide only bearings. At the same time, electrical equipment continued to fail one after another. At 1,800 meters, the crew reported a fire indication on both engines.

To reduce thrust and landing speed, the right engine was shut down. Eleven seconds later, the attitude indicators for both pilots and the KS-8 heading system “froze.” With their exact position unknown and navigation instruments failing in sequence, the crew decided to carry out a forced landing on the nearest suitable site - a snow-covered field about 1,000 meters long.

Eleven minutes after the smoke was first detected, the aircraft touched down with the landing gear extended and the flaps retracted. After rolling 148 meters, it became airborne again, flew 104 meters, and touched down a second time. After another 44 meters it lifted off once more and, after a further 180 meters, touched down for the third time - and at that moment struck a fixed irrigation installation. The right wing, together with the right main landing gear nacelle, separated. The Tu-134 overturned, slid inverted for several hundred meters, hit trees along a shelterbelt, and broke apart. The final stop occurred 1,028 meters from the first touchdown point. Twenty-seven people died at the crash site and later in hospitals, including four crew members (the captain, the first officer, the navigator, and a flight attendant).

The investigation determined that the fire originated in the area of the aft baggage compartment due to an electrical short circuit caused by damaged wire insulation. This was the only seat of fire: both engines and the APU remained serviceable, and there were no signs of fire on either. When the aircraft became completely de-energised before landing, the fire ceased immediately.