View source for Aeroflot Flight 366

{{Short description|1963 Aircraft water ditching}}
{{No footnotes|date=November 2021|article}}
{{Expand Russian|topic=transport|otherarticle=Посадка Ту-124 на Неву|date=January 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| name            = Aeroflot Flight 366
| occurrence_type = Accident
| image           = Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-124 at Arlanda, April 1966.jpg
| image_size      = 250px
| alt             = 
| caption         = A Tu-124 similar to the accident aircraft
| date            = {{start date|df=yes|1963|08|21}}
| type            = Fuel exhaustion due to [[pilot error]] and maintenance error
| site            = [[Neva River]]<br />[[Leningrad]], [[Russian SFSR]], Soviet Union
| coordinates     = {{coord|59|55|11|N|30|24|13|E|type:event|display=inline}}
| aircraft_type   = [[Tupolev Tu-124]]
| aircraft_name   = 
| operator        = [[Aeroflot]]
| tail_number     = CCCP-45021
| origin          = [[Tallinn-Ülemiste Airport]], [[Estonian SSR]],[Soviet Union
| stopover        = 
| stopover0       = 
| stopover1       = 
| stopover2       = 
| stopover3       = 
| last_stopover   = 
| destination     = [[Moskva-Vnukovo Airport]], [[Russian SFSR]], Soviet Union
| passengers      = 45
| crew            = 7
| injuries        = 
| fatalities      = 0
| survivors       = 52
}}

'''Aeroflot Flight 366''', also known as the '''Miracle on the Neva''', was a [[water landing]] by a [[Tupolev Tu-124]] of the Soviet state airline ''[[Aeroflot]]'' (Moscow division). The aircraft took off from [[Tallinn]]-Ülemiste Airport at 08:55 local time on 21 August 1963 with 45 passengers and 7 crew on board.<ref name="Scr">{{cite web |url=http://www.scramble.nl/soviet-database?af=68275&bt=175&view=details |title=Soviet Transports Database |access-date=26 February 2018 |author=Soviet Transports Team |work=Scramble |quote=C/n 2350701 ... rgd 11oct62 |archive-date=27 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227035855/http://www.scramble.nl/soviet-database?af=68275&bt=175&view=details |url-status=dead }}</ref> The aircraft was scheduled to fly to [[Vnukovo International Airport|Moskva–Vnukovo]]. After takeoff, the [[nose gear]] did not retract.<ref name="Scr"/> [[Air traffic control|Ground control]] diverted the flight to [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] – because of [[fog]] at Tallinn.<ref name="Scr"/>

== Background ==

=== Aircraft ===
The aircraft involved in the accident was a one year old [[Tupolev Tu-124]], registered as CCCP-45021, being built in 1962. It also had the manufacturing number of 2350701.<ref name="Scr" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ranter |first=Harro |title=Accident Tupolev Tu-124 CCCP-45021, Wednesday 21 August 1963 |url=https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/333043 |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=asn.flightsafety.org}}</ref>

== Accident ==
At 10:00 local time, Flight 366 started to circle the city at {{cvt|450|m|-2}}, in order to use [[fuel]], reducing weight and decreasing the risk of fire in the event of a crash. The ground services at [[Pulkovo Airport]] (LED) were preparing the dirt runway for the landing. Each circuit around the city took the aircraft approximately 15 minutes. During this time the crew attempted to force the nose gear to lock into the fully extended position by pushing it with a pole taken from the cloak closet.

On the eighth and last circuit while {{cvt|20|km}} from the airport, the no. 1 engine flamed out due to fuel starvation. The remaining engine ceased shortly thereafter, with the aircraft above the city center, traveling east over [[St. Isaac's Cathedral]] and the [[Admiralty building, Saint Petersburg|Admiralty]]. Upon loss of power the flight crew ditched the aircraft in the {{convert|300|m|ft|-2|adj=on}} wide [[Neva River]].

{{External media|image1=[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru/f/f7/%D0%A2%D1%83-124_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%9D%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%83_1963.jpg Photo of the plane ditched on the riverbank] }}

Eyewitnesses saw Flight 366 upstream. Immediately after a turn, the aircraft glided over the high steel structures of the [[Peter the Great Bridge|Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge]] with approximately {{cvt|30|m|-1}} of clearance. The Tu-124 flew over the [[Alexander Nevsky Bridge]] – under construction at the time – barely missing it. The pilot managed to land the aircraft on the river,<ref name="Scr"/> in close proximity to an 1898-built steam [[tugboat]].<{{cn|date=June 2025}}

The plane began to fill with water. The captain of the tugboat saw the plane in distress and went to help. He and his crew broke the aircraft's windshield to tie a cable to the cockpit's control wheel and proceeded to tow the craft to the river bank. During the tow all passengers remained on board. Passengers and crew then evacuated the cabin via an access hatch on the plane's roof.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

== See also ==
* [[List of airline flights that required gliding]]
* [[US Airways Flight 1549]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1964/1964%20-%202230.html "Prepare to Ditch"], in ''Flight International'' magazine, 13 August 1964, p. 241
* "Soviet Transports" series, also ''Ditch or crash-land?'' B.W. Townshend, 1965 (pp. 47–49)

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1963}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union in the 1960s}}
{{Commercial Ditchings}}
{{Aeroflot}}

{{Portal bar|Aviation|Soviet Union|1960s}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-123 Neva river ditching}}
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1963]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents involving ditching]]
[[Category:20th-century aviation accidents and incidents in Russia]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1963 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1963 in Russia]]
[[Category:Aeroflot accidents and incidents|0366]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Tupolev Tu-124]]
[[Category:1960s in Leningrad]]
[[Category:August 1963 in Europe]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by fuel exhaustion]]
[[Category:Neva River]]