Aeroflot Flight 3630, a Tupolev Tu-124 en route from southern Russia to Lithuania, crashes after the pilots lost control of the aircraft at cruise altitude between Rostov-on-Don Airport and Vilnius Airport, on the second leg of the flight; all 37 passengers and crew are killed.
Aeroflot Flight 3630
Aeroflot Flight 3630 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight operated by Aeroflot from Mineralnye Vody, Stavropol Krai, to Vilnius, capital of Lithuania SSR with a stop over at Rostov-on-Don Airport. On 2 September 1970, the Tu-124 operating this flight crashed after a loss of control at cruise altitude, 42 minutes after takeoff from Rostov-on-Don Airport. All 32 passengers and five crew members were killed.
Tupolev Tu-124
The Tupolev Tu-124 is a 56-passenger short-range twin-jet airliner built in the Soviet Union. It was the Soviet Union's first operational airliner powered by turbofan engines.
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and the Russian semi-exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest, with a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Lithuania covers an area of 65,300 km2 (25,200 sq mi), with a population of 2.9 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius; other major cities include Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys. Lithuanians are the titular nation, belong to the ethnolinguistic group of Balts, and speak Lithuanian.
Rostov-on-Don Airport
Rostov-on-Don Airport was an international airport located 8 kilometres (5 mi) east of the city of Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia. It was one of the largest airports in the south-west of Russia and the 12th busiest in the country. It was founded in 1925 and was designated an international airport in 1986. The airport served 50 destinations in Russia and abroad and hosted 30 airlines in 2015. It was a hub for Donavia until its merger with Rossiya. In 2015, Rostov Airport handled 2.06 million passengers, including 565 thousand on international routes.