View source for Aeroflot Flight 4225

{{Infobox Aircraft accident
|image = Tupolev_Tu-154B-2,_Aeroflot_AN1096891.jpg
|caption = An Aeroflot Tu-154B-2, similar to the aircraft involved in the accident
|name=Aeroflot Flight 4225
|occurrence_type=Accident
|type=[[Microburst]]-induced [[wind shear]]
|date=July 8, 1980
|summary= Windshear, loss of airspeed due to thermal currents causing a stall
|site=[[Almaty]], [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Kazakh SSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
|aircraft_type=[[Tupolev Tu-154|Tupolev Tu-154B-2]]
|operator=[[Aeroflot]]
|tail_number=CCCP-85355
|origin=[[Almaty International Airport]]
|destination=[[Simferopol Airport]]
|passengers=156
|crew=10
|fatalities=166 (all)
|survivors=0
}}

'''Aeroflot Flight 4225''' was a [[Tupolev Tu-154|Tupolev Tu-154B-2]] that was a domestic scheduled passenger flight from [[Almaty International Airport|Alma-Ata Airport]] (now Almaty) in [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet Kazakhstan]] to [[Simferopol Airport]] in [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet Ukraine]] on July 8, 1980. The aircraft reached an altitude of no more than 500 feet when the airspeed suddenly dropped because of thermal currents it encountered during the climb out, causing the airplane to stall before traveling 5&nbsp;km (3.1&nbsp;mi) away, crash and catch fire, killing all 156 passengers and 10 crew on board.<ref name=asn>{{cite web|title=ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev 154B-2 CCCP-85355 Alma-Ata Airport (ALA)|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19800708-0|publisher=Aviation Safety Network|accessdate=25 January 2015}}</ref>  To date, it retains the highest death toll of any aviation accident in Kazakhstan.<ref name="asn" />

==Accident==
At the time of the accident [[Alma-Ata]] was experiencing a [[heat wave]]. It was around 00:39 and Flight 4225 took off from Alma-Ata Airport in Soviet Kazakhstan.<ref name=asn /> Only a few seconds after take off, the flight reached 500 feet. The weather was not on the flight's side; the plane reached a zone of hot air and then the Soviet aircraft's [[airspeed]] dramatically dropped and the plane was caught in a big [[downdraft]]. The Tupolev [[Stall (engine)|stalled]] and plummeted, nose down, into a farm near the suburbs of Alma-Ata. It slid into a ravine, caught fire and disintegrated, killing everyone on board.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.airdisaster.ru/database.php?id=34|title=Катастрофа Ту-154Б-2 Алма-Атинского ОАО в районе а/п Алма-Ата (борт СССР-85355), 08 июля 1980 года. // AirDisaster.ru - авиационные происшествия, инциденты и авиакатастрофы в СССР и России - факты, история, статистика|website=www.airdisaster.ru|access-date=2017-04-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://russianplanes.net/reginfo/7932|title=✈ russianplanes.net ✈ наша авиация|website=russianplanes.net|access-date=2017-04-12}}</ref>

==Investigation==
The Soviet aviation board concluded that the crash was caused by [[windshear]] which took place while the aircraft was near its maximum takeoff weight for the local conditions which included mountains.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Aviation Disasters Second Edition |last1=Gero |first1=David |publisher=Patrick Stephens Limited |year= 1996 |page=164 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Aeroflot accidents and incidents]]
* [[Pan Am Flight 759]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zpwcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yWcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6764,878394&dq=airplane+crashes+in+kazakhstan+163+dead&hl=en
* https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dPxXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2vYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6573,1658515&dq=airplane+crashes+in+kazakhstan+163+dead&hl=en

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1980}}

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[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1980]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Tupolev Tu-154]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by microbursts]]
[[Category:Aeroflot accidents and incidents|4227]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1980 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:July 1980 events]]