Aeroflot Flight 34

Aeroflot Flight 34 was a scheduled Douglas C-47 Skytrain flight operated by Aeroflot that crashed on March 5, 1947, in the Svaneti Range while en route from Tbilisi to Moscow, killing all 23 people on board.

Aeroflot Flight 34

A C-47, similar in design to the crashed aircraft
Accident
Date	5 March 1947 (1947-03-05)
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)
Site	Soviet Union Lower Svaneti Range (GSSR, USSR)
Aircraft
Aircraft type	C-47
Operator	GSSR Aeroflot (Georgian Territorial Civil Aviation Directorate)
Registration	USSR-L952
Flight origin	GSSR Tbilisi
Destination	RSFSR Vnukovo, Moscow
Occupants	23
Passengers	19
Crew	4
Fatalities	23

The Accident

The C-47 (a variant of the DC-3) of the Georgian Territorial Directorate of Civil Aviation was operating Flight 34 from Tbilisi to Moscow, piloted by a crew consisting of Captain I.N. Nikitin, co-pilot G.I. Suslov, flight engineer A.V. Andryushenko, and radio operator V.I. Shurina. The C-47 took off from Tbilisi Airport at 08:53 with 19 passengers on board.

Before departure, Captain Nikitin was warned that he could only expect to land at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport before 15:25. However, after takeoff, it became apparent that the crew would not have enough time to reach Moscow. The captain decided to fly over the Caucasus Mountains, thereby shortening the route. At 09:53, 1 hour and 3 minutes after takeoff, communication with the aircraft was lost, and the crew did not respond to further calls. Fifteen days later, on March 20, the wreckage of the aircraft was found on the slope of the Lower Svaneti Range. All 23 people on board perished.

Cause

The cause of the crash was attributed to the indiscipline of the captain, who violated the flight plan and changed the route without authorization.