Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307

LZ-BEM, the accident aircraft
Accident
Date	3 March 1973
Summary	Atmospheric icing
Site	Near Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Soviet Union
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Ilyushin Il-18
Operator	Balkan Bulgarian Airlines
Registration	LZ-BEM
Flight origin	Sofia Vrazhdebna Airport, Sofia, Bulgaria
Destination	Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Soviet Union
Passengers	17
Crew	8
Fatalities	25
Survivors	0

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Sofia to Moscow that crashed on its final approach to the Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow on March 3, 1973. All 25 passengers and crew on board were killed in the crash.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was an Ilyushin Il-18V, registration LZ-BEM; it first flew in 1962.

Description of the accident

The aircraft was completing an international scheduled passenger flight from Sofia to Moscow when, on its second landing attempt after a missed approach, it started to lose altitude and nosedived shortly thereafter. The aircraft crashed into the ground, disintegrated, and caught fire. There were no survivors among the 17 passengers and 8 crew members on board. The accident marked the 60th loss of an Ilyushin Il-18 and 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.