Secret tragedy of the USSR: in 1981 more Soviet military leaders died than during the war

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

For a long time, the tragic plane crash of the Tu-104 aircraft that occurred on February 7, 1981 was carefully hidden by the Soviet and then Russian leadership. This is not surprising, because on that day several dozen high-ranking admirals and generals of the Pacific Fleet were killed. Let's find out what really happened that day.

In the Soviet Union, it was customary to hide information about various disasters and tragic events. Take, for example, the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant - the main thing is to create the illusion of a peaceful and prosperous state. A similar situation happened with the death of the Tu-104 aircraft. At the time, only one official military newspaper, Krasnaya Zvezda, wrote about the incident, and no details were given.

And this is what happened that day. The day before, a meeting of the commanders of the Soviet naval fleets took place at the Leningrad Naval Academy. Many high-ranking officials attended the meeting: admirals, generals, officers. There was a conversation with the cadets and a training exercise. On February 7, the command staff was supposed to fly from the city of Pushkin back to Vladivostok.

For operational deployment, they decided to use an old Tu-104 jet airliner. According to Novate.ru, the aircraft had not been used in civil aviation for several years, but continued to be operated by the Soviet army. The liner showed himself well in work, and, it would seem, nothing could portend trouble. In the morning, fifty people stepped on board the plane, among whom were sixteen admirals and generals, ten captains of the first rank, several warrant officers and sailors. Most of the military were members of the Pacific Fleet. The aircraft's crew consisted of six as a standard.

The weather for the flight was not the best - snowfall and ice. Tu-104 accelerated on the runway and slowly lifted off the ground. However, already at the eighth second of the flight, something went wrong. The plane sharply got a trim aft, reared up and crashed onto the airfield from a height of fifty meters. Since the fuel tanks of the Tu-104 were full of fuel, a fire was inevitable. Everyone on board was killed.

The only one who showed signs of life by the time the rescuers arrived was an aircraft technician who was in the cockpit during takeoff. He was thrown through a window from hitting the ground, but he also died on the way to the hospital. This is how key figures of the Soviet Navy perished in a few seconds. Only a large number of officers in such a short period of time did not die, even during the world wars.

An urgent investigation began immediately after the disaster. Initially, the incident was mistaken for an act of sabotage, but everything turned out to be much more prosaic. It turned out that the plane tilted due to overload, and especially due to improper placement of cargo, which was also on the plane in addition to passengers. During the climb, heavy, loose paper rolls rolled towards the tail of the aircraft, causing an extreme displacement of the center of gravity. Despite the obvious negligence of the Tu-104 loaders, they nevertheless decided to take it out of service out of harm's way.