View source for ČSA Flight 001

{{short description|1976 crash in Czechoslovakia killing 73}}
{{expand Russian|topic=transport|otherarticle=Катастрофа Ил-18 в Братиславе|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| name            = Czechoslovak Airlines Flight 001
| image           = CSA Ilyushin Il-18 Robbins-1.jpg
| alt             = 
| Image caption   = ČSA Ilyushin Il-18, similar aircraft
| Date            = July 28, 1976, 9:37 [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| Type            = [[Pilot error]] and/or technical failure
| occurrence_type = Accident
| Site            = Lake [[Zlaté Piesky]] near [[Bratislava Airport|M. R. Štefánik Airport]], [[Bratislava]], [[Czechoslovakia]]
| coordinates     = {{coord|48|10|55|N|17|11|24|E|type:event|display=title,inline}}
| Fatalities      = 76
| Injuries        = 3
| aircraft_type   = [[Ilyushin Il-18]]B
| aircraft_name   = 
| Operator        = [[Czech Airlines|ČSA]]
| tail_number     = OK-NAB
| origin          = [[Václav Havel Airport Prague|Ruzyně International Airport]], [[Prague]]
| stopover        = 
| stopover0       = 
| occupants       = 79
| last_stopover   = 
| destination     = M. R. Štefánik Airport, Bratislava
| Passengers      = 73
| Crew            = 6
| missing         = 
| Survivors       = 3
}}
'''Czechoslovak Airlines Flight 001 ''' was an [[Ilyushin Il-18]]B four engine [[turboprop]] airliner, registered OK-NAB, which was operating as a scheduled domestic passenger flight from [[Prague]]'s [[Václav Havel Airport Prague|Ruzyně]] airport to [[Bratislava Airport|Bratislava-Ivanka Airport]], both in [[Czechoslovakia]], which crashed into the [[Zlaté Piesky]] (Golden Sands) Lake while attempting to land in Bratislava on July 28, 1976. All 6 crew members and 70 out of 73 passengers died.<ref name="ASN">{{Cite web |last=Ranter |first=Harro |title=ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin Il-18V OK-NAB Bratislava-Ivanka Airport (BTS) |url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19760728-1 |access-date=2020-10-07 |website=Aviation Safety Network |publisher=[[Flight Safety Foundation]]}}</ref>

==Crash==

The flight departed Prague airport at 8:52 ([[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]) and proceeded routinely to Bratislava. At 9:35:10 ([[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]) the flight was cleared by [[Bratislava]] tower to land on runway 22. For reasons that are unclear, the crew executed a highly unstabilized [[Instrument landing system|ILS]] [[instrument approach]] to runway 22, with rates of descent as high as 4,320 fpm or {{convert|22|m/s|abbr=on}} instead of {{convert|10|m/s|abbr=on}}; speeds varying from {{convert|225|to|435|km/h|abbr=on}} instead of {{convert|269|km/h|abbr=on}}; and flap selection directly from 0 degree to full flaps instead of in gradual increments. As they approached the runway, the crew inadvertently set thrust reversal at the no. 2 and no. 3 engine (inboard engines) while still airborne. The thrust reversal caused the no. 3 engine to fail and the crew then inadvertently feathered the no. 4 prop, losing all thrust on the right side of the aircraft.<ref name="planecrashinfo.com">{{Cite web|title=Information about the plane crash|url=http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1976/1976-31.htm|access-date=2020-10-07|website=www.planecrashinfo.com}}</ref> At {{convert|50|m|abbr=on}} above the runway threshold the crew attempted to execute a [[go-around]]. They tried to restart the no. 4 engine at {{convert|40|m|abbr=on}}, but the ensuing right bank due to asymmetric thrust increased; the aircraft then lost control and struck lake [[Zlaté Piesky]] (Golden Sands) in a 60 degree right bank and a 60 degree nose down attitude.<ref name=planes>{{Cite web |url=http://www.planes.cz/cs/historie/2/ |title=Planes History |access-date=2007-01-04 |archive-date=2007-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070104161249/http://www.planes.cz/cs/historie/2/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Communications log ==
('''001''' - ČSA Flight 001, '''TWR''' – Bratislava air traffic control)

; ''09:36:20''
: '''TWR:''' 001 Making [[go-around]]?
: '''001:''' Affirmative
: '''TWR:''' Roger, left turn
; ''09:36:30''
: '''001:''' Roger
; ''09:36:50''
: '''TWR:''' Left turn 001!
: '''001:''' ''…… (not acknowledged)''
; ''09:37:10''
: '''001:''' Ono to byla štyrka ano... ''/ It was no. 4 yes... /'' ''(accidentally broadcast)''

==Investigation==

The investigators published <ref name=final>[http://www.k-report.net/ukazobrazek.php?soubor=204349.jpg&httpref=54342/154538 Final report - page 57] (in czech)</ref> the causes as follows:
* Use of thrust reversal at altitude under {{convert|1000|m|abbr=on}}.
* Improper manipulation of the thrust levers of the inner engines.
* Reducing speed under the allowed limit on final approach.
* Erroneous feathering of the engine number 4 propeller.
* Failure to bank the plane towards the working engines side.
* The immediate cause was the attempt to start engine number 4 at low speed and altitude.

==Rescue operation==
The plane crashed into a lake in a densely populated area and rescue operations started immediately after the crash. [[Svazarm]] divers tried to help, but most passengers drowned or died due to the impact forces. Initially, four passengers were pulled out alive; one passenger later died in the hospital.<ref name="ASN" />

==Controversy==
A surviving passenger later claimed in an interview that flight captain requested emergency landing in [[Brno]] but it was rejected because of the Vietnamese delegation visiting the city and an emergency landing would harm the image of the country. He also claimed that [[Vienna International Airport|Vienna airport]] offered an emergency landing permission but [[Communism|communist]] authorities rejected it.<ref name="pravda">{{Cite news|date=2006-07-25|title=Pred 30 rokmi v Bratislave spadlo lietadlo|language=sk-SK|trans-title=Plane crashed in Bratislava 30 years ago|work=[[Pravda (Slovakia)|Pravda]]|url=http://spravy.pravda.sk/pred-30-rokmi-v-bratislave-spadlo-lietadlo-fp8-/sk_zaujima.asp?c=A060725_094750_sk_zaujima_p12}}</ref> It is unclear how a surviving passenger would be aware of the captain's actions during the flight, or how searching for an alternate emergency landing site relates to an unstabilized approach with inadvertent thrust reversal deployment at Bratislava.

==See also==
{{Portal bar|Aviation|Czech Republic|Slovakia|1970s}}
*[[List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft]]
*[[TABSO Flight 101]] – Ilyushin Il-18B crash at Bratislava in 1966

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1976/1976-31.htm Information about the plane crash]
* [https://maps.google.com/maps?q=48.17,17.2125&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=14&ll=48.172268,17.212486&spn=0.041613,0.118103&t=h GoogleMap aerial view of Bratislava airport and accident site]

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1976}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Czechoslovakia}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Csa Flight Ok-Nab}}
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Slovakia]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1976]]
[[Category:Czech Airlines accidents and incidents|001]]
[[Category:1976 in Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Ilyushin Il-18]]
[[Category:July 1976 in Europe]]