No fatalities

Aircraft lost without trace after failing to return from deep penetration mission (4)

Stary Krym, UkraineFlight

On July 11, 1942, a Polikarpov Po-2 (registration 4) operated by Soviet Air Force - Voyenno-vozdushnye sily CCCP was involved in an aviation accident near Stary Krym, Ukraine in flight. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: Failure to return to base following an operation beyond enemy lines. This summary draws on records from the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (B3A); 8 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

Sourcesthe Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (B3A)Source recordUpdated 2026-08-05Data APIEditorial standards

An aircraft failed to return to its base following an operational sortie conducted beyond enemy lines. The airframe was subsequently lost without any trace or recovery.

What happened

The incident involved a military operation where the aircraft penetrated deep into hostile territory. Following the completion of the mission objectives, the crew attempted to navigate back to their home base. However, the aircraft failed to make it back and disappeared from radar contact. Search efforts did not yield any wreckage or debris, resulting in the airframe being classified as lost without trace.

Findings

The primary factor contributing to the loss was the failure to return to base after operating beyond enemy lines. The specific technical or environmental reasons for this failure are not detailed in the available records, but the outcome remained a total loss with no physical evidence recovered.

Probable cause

Failure to return to base following an operation beyond enemy lines