1952 Leningrad mid-air collision

Accident
Date	5 October 1952 (1952-10-05)
Summary	Mid-air collision due to ATC error
Site	near the village of Skvortsy, Gatchinsky District, Leningrad Oblast, close to Pulkovo Airport (RSFSR, USSR)
Total fatalities	31
Total survivors	0
First aircraft
Type	Ilyushin Il-12
Operator	Aeroflot (Northern TU GVF, 67th ATO)
Registration	CCCP-Л1328
Flight origin	Adler Airport, Sochi
Stopover	Minsk-1, Minsk
Destination	Shosseynaya Airport, Leningrad
Passengers	19
Crew	5
Fatalities	24
Survivors	0
Second aircraft
Type	Douglas TS-62
Operator	Aeroflot (Northern TU GVF, Syktyvkar Air Group)
Registration	CCCP-Л1055
Flight origin	Shosseynaya Airport, Leningrad
Stopover	Minsk-1 Airport, Minsk
Destination	Odessa Airport, Odessa
Occupants	7
Passengers	3
Crew	4
Fatalities	7
Survivors	0

The 1952 Leningrad mid-air collision was a disaster that occurred on October 5, 1952, when an Il-12 and a TS-62 collided in the sky over the Gatchinsky District of Leningrad Oblast, resulting in the deaths of 31 people.

The Il-12 with tail number USSR-L1328 (factory number 30054, produced by MMZ "Znamya Truda") was operating flight 376 from Sochi to Leningrad. The aircraft was piloted by a crew consisting of Captain Viktor Pavlov, Co-pilot Sergey Kuritsyn, Flight Engineer Konstantin Polivanov, and Radio Operator Alexander Sokolov. The cabin was attended by flight attendant Tamara Selyavo. At 13:39, the Il-12 departed from Minsk—its last intermediate stop—and climbed to an altitude of 1,800 meters, flying through clouds. There were 24 passengers on board.^[1]

The sky over Leningrad was completely overcast, with haze and visibility at 2 kilometers. Maintaining an altitude of 1,800 meters, the Il-12 entered the airspace of Leningrad's Shosseynaya Airport via Air Corridor No. 2. At this time, a TS-62 (a modified C-47) with tail number USSR-L1055 (factory number 45-970) had just departed from the same airport. This aircraft was operating flight 381 from Leningrad to Odessa with its first stop in Minsk. The crew included Captain Murtaza Khalikov, Co-pilot Alexander Naumov, Flight Engineer Boris Balashov, and Radio Operator Yuri Alekseev. There were three passengers on board. After takeoff, the aircraft climbed to an altitude of 900 meters and proceeded along Corridor No. 2, exiting the Leningrad airspace.^[2]

The air traffic controller, who was also the head of Shosseynaya Airport, observed on the radar that the aircraft were on a collision course. Nevertheless, he instructed the Il-12 crew to descend to 1,200 meters and the TS-62 crew to climb to 2,700 meters. A dispatcher warned the controller that such an altitude crossing was unacceptable, but the controller reassured him, saying, "Don't worry, I'm watching them, and I'm responsible." The Il-12's captain also expressed concern about the approaching aircraft, to which the controller responded, "I see both of you, I'm watching you." The pilots of both aircraft then began executing their orders: the Il-12 descended, and the TS-62 climbed.^[1]

At 16:02, flying in clouds towards each other, the aircraft collided approximately 25 kilometers from the airport. The right wings of both aircraft struck each other, after which they crashed and exploded near the village of Skvortsy (Gatchinsky District, Leningrad Oblast). The TS-62 crashed just 250 meters northeast of the village, while the Il-12 came down 1,200 meters north-northeast of the TS-62. Parts of their right wings fell north of the village. All 9 crew members and 22 passengers aboard both aircraft perished.^[1]

The cause of the disaster was a gross violation of flight level separation rules by the air traffic controller, who ignored the warnings of the dispatcher and the Il-12 crew. Despite seeing the aircraft converging on the radar, he took no measures to separate them.^[1]