35 Years ago today: On 10 July 1985 an Aeroflot Tupolev 154B-2 stalled, entered a flat spin and crashed near Uch-Kuduk, killing all 200 occupants.
| Date: | Wednesday 10 July 1985 |
| Time: | 23:46 MSK |
| Type: | Tupolev Tu-154B-2 |
| Operator: | Aeroflot / Uzbekistan |
| Registration: | CCCP-85311 |
| C/n / msn: | 78A311 |
| First flight: | 1978 |
| Engines: | 3 Kuznetsov NK-8-2U |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 191 / Occupants: 191 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 200 / Occupants: 200 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Aircraft fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | near Uchkuduk ( |
| Phase: | En route (ENR) |
| Nature: | Domestic Scheduled Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Karshi Airport (KSQ/UTSL), Uzbekistan |
| Destination airport: | Ufa Airport (UFA/UWUU), Russia |
| Flightnumber: | SU7425 |
Narrative:
The Tupolev 154 departed Karshi (KSQ) on a flight to Leningrad (LED) via Ufa (UFA). The flight crew climbed to the cruising altitude of FL380 (11.600 m) at an airspeed of 400 km/h, which is close to stall speed under the given conditions.
During cruise flight vibrations started because of the low airspeed. The crew assumed that the vibrations were caused by engine surges. They reduced power to flight idle, causing the airspeed to drop to 290 km/h. Trying to maintain altitude, the airplane eventually stalled. The Tu-154 went into a flat spin and crashed.
