Aircraft Emergency Landing and Subsequent Sinking in Shelikov Gulf (CCCP-75732)

Flight Details and Emergency Sequence The crew departed Mys Schmidta (Cape Schmidt) with 14.5 tons of fuel for Anadyr. After an uneventful flight, they loaded 10 tons of meat in Anadyr and departed Anadyr Airport at 0625 local time bound for Magadan. One hour and twenty minutes into the flight, while cruising at 7,000 meters, the radio operator informed air traffic control that engine number two had failed. The captain initiated an emergency descent, reaching 3,000 meters five minutes later when engine number one also failed. Under these conditions, the crew elected to make an emergency landing on the icy Shelikov Gulf. The aircraft belly-landed on the ice and slid for several yards before coming to rest 2,700 meters off the coast. It then went through the ice and sank. The wreckage and crew were found six days later, on March 4 at 0830 local time. The aircraft was lost, and all ten occupants died from hypothermia, with an outside air temperature of -18°C and icy water conditions.