What happened
Shortly after departing from runway 06 at Moscow-Myashkovo Airport, a Li-2 experienced an engine failure on its left side during the initial climb. The loss of power caused the aircraft to descend rapidly, leading it to strike the roof of a building. The impact occurred in the Zaozerye residential district, situated approximately 2.5 km from the airfield, roughly three minutes after the flight had commenced.
The accident resulted in three fatalities and two serious injuries at the scene. However, one of the injured passengers later succumbed to their wounds, leaving only a single survivor from the total number of occupants on board.
Findings
Investigations into the crash revealed that the left engine ceased functioning because of fuel exhaustion. Specifically, the fuel selector valve for the left engine had been set to a tank that contained no usable fuel. The investigation highlighted significant errors in flight preparation by the crew and noted that the flight engineer was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.