Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307
Accident
LZ-BEM, the accident aircraft
Date	3 March 1973
Summary	Atmospheric icing
Site	Near Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Soviet Union
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Ilyushin Il-18
Operator	Balkan Bulgarian Airlines
Registration	LZ-BEM
Flight origin	Sofia Vrazhdebna Airport, Sofia, Bulgaria
Destination	Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Soviet Union
Passengers	17
Crew	8
Fatalities	25
Survivors	0

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Sofia to Moscow that crashed on its final approach to the Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow on March 3, 1973. All 25 passengers and crew on board were killed in the crash.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was an Ilyushin Il-18V, registration LZ-BEM with the manufacturer's serial number 182005602. The aircraft first flew in 1962.^[1]

Description of the accident

The aircraft was completing an international scheduled passenger flight from Sofia to Moscow when, on its second landing attempt after a missed approach, it started to lose altitude and nosedived shortly thereafter. The aircraft crashed into the ground, disintegrated, and caught fire.^[1] There were no survivors among the 17 passengers and 8 crew members on board.^[1]^{[nb 1]} The accident marked the 60th loss of an Ilyushin Il-18 and was also the 24th worst accident involving the type at the time of the accident. As of July 2014^[update], the event is the 35th deadliest one involving an Il-18.^[1]

Icing was later determined as the possible cause of the accident.^[1]

Notes

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Accident description for LZ-BEM at the Aviation Safety Network
^
- "Air safety (page 80)". Flight International. 105 (3384). 17 January 1974. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014.
- "Air safety (page 81)". Flight International. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014.
- "Air safety (page 82)". Flight International. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014.
- "Air safety (page 83)". Flight International. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014.

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1973

Jan 21

Aeroflot Flight 6263

Jan 22

Kano Nigeria Airways Boeing 707 crash

Jan 29

EgyptAir Flight 741

Feb 19

Aeroflot Flight 141

Feb 21

Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114

Feb 24

Aeroflot Flight 630

Feb 26

DeKalb–Peachtree Airport Learjet 24 crash

Mar 3

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307

Mar 5

Nantes mid-air collision

Apr 10

Invicta International Airlines Flight 435

May 11

Aeroflot Flight 6551

May 18

Aeroflot Flight 109

May 31

Indian Airlines Flight 440

Jun 3

Paris Air Show Tu-144 crash

Jun 10

Nepal plane hijacking

Jun 20

Aeroméxico Flight 229

Jul 11

Varig Flight 820

Jul 22

Pan Am Flight 816

Jul 23

Japan Air Lines Flight 404

Jul 23

Ozark Air Lines Flight 809

Jul 31

Delta Air Lines Flight 723

Aug 13

Aviaco Flight 118

Aug 18

Aeroflot Flight A-13

Aug 28

TWA Flight 742

Sep 8

World Airways Flight 802

Sep 11

JAT Flight 769

Sep 27

Texas International Airlines Flight 655

Sep 30

Oct 13

Nov 2

Nov 3

Nov 3

National Airlines Flight 27

Nov 21

US Navy C-117D Sólheimasandur Crash

Nov 23

Italian Air Force C-47 Argo 16 crash

Nov 25

KLM Flight 861

Dec 16

Aeroflot Flight 2022

Dec 17

Iberia Flight 933

Dec 17

Pan Am Fl. 110, Lufthansa Fl. 303 hijacking

Dec 22

Royal Air Maroc Caravelle crash

1972 ◄ ► 1974

Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union

1930s	Osoaviakhim-1 SSSR-V6 Osoaviakhim
1940s	1948 Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-12 crash
1950s	1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash LOT Polish Airlines Flight 232 1957 Kiev mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 04 1958 Aeroflot Tu-104 Kanash crash Aeroflot Flight 315 (1959) Aeroflot Flight 120 Aeroflot Flight 200
1960s	Aeroflot Flight 315 (1960) U-2 incident Aeroflot Flight 207 RB-47 shootdown incident Aeroflot Flight 036 Austrian Airlines Flight 901 Aeroflot Flight 068 Aeroflot Flight 245 Aeroflot Flight 902 Aeroflot Flight 415 Aeroflot Flight 213 (1962) Aeroflot Flight 191 Aeroflot Flight 03 Aeroflot Flight 25 Aeroflot Flight 012 Aeroflot Flight 366 Aeroflot Flight 663 Aeroflot Flight 721 Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20 Aeroflot Flight 542 Aeroflot Flight 513 Aeroflot Flight 99 Aeroflot Flight 065 Aeroflot Flight 2723 Aeroflot Flight 5003 (1967) Aeroflot Flight 2230 Aeroflot Flight L-51 Aeroflot Flight 15 Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A 1969 Yukhnov mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight N-826
1970s	Aeroflot Flight U-45 Aeroflot Flight 1661 Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair Aeroflot Flight 3630 Aeroflot Flight 244 22 January 1971 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash 31 January 1971 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash Aeroflot Flight 1969 Aeroflot Flight 1912 Malév Flight 110 Aeroflot Flight 773 Aeroflot Flight N-63 Aeroflot Flight 2174 Aeroflot Flight 1491 Aeroflot Flight 558 Aeroflot Flight 1036 Aeroflot Flight 217 Japan Air Lines Flight 446 Aeroflot Flight 6263 Aeroflot Flight 141 Aeroflot Flight 630 Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307 Aeroflot Flight 6551 Aeroflot Flight 109 Aeroflot Flight A-13 Aeroflot Flight 3932 Aeroflot Flight 964 Aeroflot Flight 19 Aeroflot Flight 2022 1974 Leningrad Aeroflot Il-18 crash 1974 Surgut mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 2003 Aeroflot Flight 3739 (1976) Aeroflot Flight 909 Aeroflot Flight 1802 Aeroflot Flight A-53 Aeroflot Flight 418 1976 Anapa mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 2415 Aeroflot Flight N-36 Aeroflot Flight 3843 Aeroflot Flight 5003 (1977) 1977 Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134 hijacking Aeroflot Flight B-2 Aeroflot Flight 6709 Korean Air Lines Flight 902 1978 Yegoryevsk Tu-144 crash Iranian Chinook shootdown Aeroflot Flight 1080 Aeroflot Flight 1691 1979 Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 5484
1980s– Dec. 1991	Aeroflot Flight 4225 1981 Pushkin Tu-104 crash Aeroflot Flight 498 1981 Armenia mid-air collision 1981 Zheleznogorsk mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 811 Aeroflot Flight 3603 Aeroflot Flight 8641 Aeroflot Flight 411 Aeroflot Flight 5463 Korean Air Lines Flight 007 Aeroflot Flight 601 Aeroflot Flight 3352 Aeroflot Flight 3519 Aeroflot Flight 7841 1985 Zolochiv mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 5143 Aeroflot Flight 101/435 Aeroflot Flight 2306 Aeroflot Flight 6502 Aeroflot Flight U-505 Aeroflot Flight N-528 Aeroflot Flight 699 Aeroflot Flight 3739 (1988) 1988 Soviet Air Force Il-76 crash An-24 crash in Navoiy Aeroflot Flight 8556