Ilyushin · Single-aisle jet
Ilyushin Il-62
Is the Ilyushin Il-62 safe? It ranks #0 of 53 airliner families we rate, with 12 fatal accidents counted in about 5.1 million passenger flights.
How the score is built
- Fatal passenger accidents
- 12 in 5.1 million flights
2.4 fatal passenger accidents per million flights. Counted: passenger flights, accidents and unexplained losses; not counted: sabotage, hijackings, shoot-downs and deliberate crew acts.
- Full-loss equivalents
- 9.3
Each counted accident adds the share of people on board who died (1 = no survivors). This is what the score is based on.
- Flights flown
- 5.1 million
Estimated passenger departures. Passenger departures 1967 to 7 October 2026 from a fleet model: deliveries with a median passenger service life of about 18 years and about 1,599 departures per aircraft per year (average of similar types in OpenSky). OpenSky sees too few of these aircraft because they were retired before 2019. After 1991 capped by departures reported by the former Soviet republics (World Bank). Uncertainty roughly ±50%.
- Technology generation
- Gen 2 jet (integrated autoflight, analogue cockpit)
Small fleets are pulled toward the record of their generation: 0.88 full-loss equivalents per million flights over 236 million flights. Weight of this family's own record: 63%.
- Last fatal passenger accident
- 24 July 2009
Aria Air, lsf Deta Air, Mashhad-Shahid Hashemi Nejad Airport (MHD), Iran: 16 of 173 people on board died.
- Hull losses
- 25
Civil aircraft destroyed or written off from all causes, including non-fatal accidents, cargo flights and attacks; airframes flown by air forces on military operations are left out (context only, not in the score).
Compared with everyday risks
One flight on the Ilyushin Il-62 carries about the same risk of death as the activities near it below.
- An hour's walk1 in 14 million
- Driving 100 miles (160 km)1 in 5.9 million
- A day of skiing1 in 1.3 million
- An ordinary day: accidents and violence1 in 1 million
- One flight on the Ilyushin Il-62This aircraft1 in 680,000
- A scuba dive1 in 500,000
- Cycling 100 miles (160 km)1 in 430,000
- Running a marathon1 in 290,000
- A skydive1 in 250,000
- A general anaesthetic1 in 100,000
- Riding a motorbike 100 miles (160 km)1 in 83,000
Accident history
12 fatal accidents count toward the score, with 1,076 people on board killed.
| Date | Flight | Killed | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aria Air, lsf Deta AirIl-62M · Mashhad-Shahid Hashemi Nejad Airport (MHD), Iran | 16 / 173 on board | The crew flew a fast, steep approach to Mashhad and landed far down the runway. The flight engineer mishandled the reversers and shut down engines without orders, so the jet did not slow, ran off the end and struck a wall. Poor cockpit management was the main cause.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Cubana de AviaciónIl-62M · 0,7 km NE of Havana-José Martí International Airport (HAV), Cuba | 126 / 126 on board | Taking off in a rainstorm with strong winds, the jet climbed only about 56 m before downdrafts pushed it into ILS aerials past the runway end and it crashed into homes, also killing 24 people on the ground. The captain had not delayed departure.Type: Windshear or stormASN record | |
| InterflugIl-62M · Berlin-Schönefeld Airport (SXF), Germany | 21 / 113 on board | The crew had not fully unlocked the flight controls and missed that the elevator was still locked. The jet would not rotate, the abort came late, and it overran into an excavation, a fence and trees before catching fire.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| LOT Polskie Linie Lotnicze LO5055Il-62M · 6 km SE of Warszawa-Okecie Airport (WAW), Poland | 183 / 183 on board | A shaft in the no. 2 engine broke and the turbine disc burst, puncturing the fuselage, cutting elevator controls and starting a hold fire. The crew turned back to Warsaw, but the fire took away pitch control and the jet hit a forest.Type: Engine failureASN record | |
| ChosonminhangIl-62M · near Labé, Guinea | 23 / 23 on board | The North Korean Il-62, flying workers and building cargo to Guinea ahead of an OAU summit, crashed in Guinea's Fouta Djallon highlands on the final leg from Cairo to Conakry. No cause is recorded.Type: Unknown causeASN record | |
| Aeroflot, International Civil Aviation Directorate SU343Il-62M · Luxembourg-Findel Airport (LUX), Luxembourg | 7 / 77 on board | Just before touchdown at Luxembourg, one thrust reverser failed to deploy while the opposite one worked, and the Il-62 yawed right. It left the runway, hit a building and dropped into a ravine, where fire broke out.Type: Runway excursionASN record | |
| Aeroflot, International Civil Aviation DirectorateIl-62M · 11,4 km N of Moskva-Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO), Russia | 90 / 90 on board | Just after take-off, fire warnings came on for both left engines and the crew shut them down. The Il-62 could not hold height on two engines, stalled and hit swampy woods. Both warnings were false, caused by hot air from a burst air-conditioning duct.Type: System failureASN record | |
| LOT Polskie Linie LotniczeIl-62 · 0,8 km NW of Warszawa-Okecie Airport (WAW), Poland | 87 / 87 on board | A gear-lock problem led the crew to go around near Warsaw. When power was added, a fatigued turbine disc burst in one engine; debris severed rudder and elevator controls and the Il-62 dived into the ground short of the runway.Type: Engine failureASN record | |
| Aeroflot, International Civil Aviation Directorate SU331Il-62M · 1,3 km SW of Havana-José Martí International Airport (HAV), Cuba | 67 / 69 on board | Turning onto final too close in, the crew met a fog bank and went below decision height without seeing the runway. They had not set the airfield pressure, so they were lower than indicated; the Il-62 hit power lines and crashed short.Type: Flight into terrainASN record | |
| CSA Ceskoslovenské AerolinieIl-62 · 17 km NE of Damascus International Airport (DAM), Syria | 126 / 128 on board | On a night approach to Damascus in good weather, with the copilot flying, the Il-62 hit flat ground some 17 km short, broke up and burned. Two passengers survived. The cause could not be determined.Type: Unknown causeASN record | |
| Aeroflot, International Civil Aviation DirectorateIl-62 · 11 km N of Moskva-Sheremetyevo Airport (SVO), Russia | 174 / 174 on board | Approaching Sheremetyevo at night, the Il-62 kept descending fast and clean during a procedure turn instead of levelling at 400 m, and flew into a forest. The cause was never found; a lightning strike disabling the crew or an elevator fault were considered.Type: Unknown causeASN record | |
| InterflugIl-62 · Königs Wusterhausen, Germany | 156 / 156 on board | Climbing out of Berlin, the crew reported elevator trouble and turned back, dumping fuel, then found a fire in the rear. Control was lost and the tail failed in flight. A long-running hot-air leak had cooked wiring insulation, and a short circuit lit a fire in the aft hold.Type: FireASN record |
Listed but not counted
These events did not happen on regular passenger flights or were caused by a crime or a deliberate act, which says little about the aircraft design.
| Date | Flight | Killed | Why not counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ilyushin Design BureauIl-62 · Moskva-Zhukovsky (Ramenskoye) Airport (ZIA), Russia | 10 / 17 on board | Test flight. The Il-62 prototype was starting a test flight at maximum weight when its nose rose to a very high angle on take-off and speed fell away. It barely got airborne, hit a concrete fence and burned; ten of the 17 crew died.Type: Loss of control in flightASN record |
The Ilyushin Il-62 is out of regular service, and its record is weaker than that of the Western long-haul jets of its time. Up to 7 October 2026 it has 13 fatal events in our data. 12 count, in about 5.1 million passenger flights; 11 of them happened between 1972 and 1989, and the last was in 2009. The pattern that stands out is failures in the engines and systems at the tail.
What the Il-62 is
The Il-62 was the Soviet Union's first long-range jet airliner, built for Aeroflot's long international routes. It first flew in 1963 and entered service with Aeroflot in 1967; 292 were built. Its four engines sit in pairs at the tail, below a T-tail, which leaves a clean wing but puts the engines close to the control runs in the rear fuselage. The Il-62M of the 1970s got more economical Soloviev D-30KU engines and more range.
Besides Aeroflot it flew with the airlines of the Soviet bloc and its friends: Interflug, CSA, LOT, Tarom, Cubana and North Korea's state airline, later Air Koryo.
When the tail failed
Four counted accidents began with a failure in the rear of the aircraft:
- 14 August 1972, Interflug: a long-running leak of hot air had cooked wiring insulation; a short circuit lit a fire in the rear hold after take-off from Berlin, and the tail failed in flight. All 156 died.
- 14 March 1980, LOT: on a go-around at Warsaw, a fatigued turbine disc burst in the no. 2 engine. Debris cut the rudder and elevator controls and the jet dived into the ground; all 87 died.
- 6 July 1982, Aeroflot: fire warnings came on for both left engines after take-off from Moscow and the crew shut them down. The Il-62 could not hold height on two engines and crashed (90). Both warnings were false, set off by a burst air-conditioning duct.
- 9 May 1987, LOT 5055: an engine shaft broke, the disc burst, and debris punctured the fuselage, cut the elevator controls and started a fire. The crew tried to return to Warsaw; all 183 died, the worst Il-62 accident.
The two LOT crashes show the weakness of the layout: with the engines packed at the tail, one burst disc could reach the flight controls too.
Approaches, storms and unknowns
In 1972 an Aeroflot Il-62 flew into a forest on approach to Moscow at night (174); the cause was never found, nor was it for a CSA crash near Damascus in 1975 (126 of 128) or a North Korean Il-62 lost in Guinea in 1983 (23). In 1977 an Aeroflot crew landing at Havana in fog had not set the airfield pressure and hit power lines short of the runway (67 of 69). A Cubana Il-62M took off from Havana into a rainstorm in 1989, was pushed down by downdrafts and crashed into homes, killing all 126 on board and 24 people on the ground.
The last counted accident was an Aria Air Il-62M that ran off the end of the runway at Mashhad, Iran, in 2009 after a fast, steep approach; 16 of 173 died.
What is left out
The only fatal event not counted is the 1965 crash of the prototype on a test flight near Moscow, which killed 10 of its 17 crew. Our methodology explains why test flights are not part of the score.
How to tell if you are on one
Flight trackers show IL62. Four engines mounted in two pairs at the tail, a T-tail and a long, narrow body make it unmistakable. On the ground it rests on a small extra strut under the tail, which stops it tipping back when the cabin is empty.
Questions people ask
Can you still fly on an Il-62?
Almost certainly not. Only a handful of the 292 built are still flying, mostly as government and state aircraft in Russia and North Korea. North Korea's Air Koryo has kept one for occasional flights, but there is no regular passenger service on the type.
What was the worst Il-62 crash?
LOT flight 5055 on 9 May 1987. Climbing out of Warsaw for New York, a shaft in the no. 2 engine broke and its turbine disc burst. Debris cut the elevator controls and started a fire in the rear hold. The crew turned back but lost control near Warsaw, and all 183 people on board died.
Is the Il-62 a copy of the VC10?
It looks like the British Vickers VC10, with four engines at the tail and a T-tail, and both were designed in the same years for long routes. The two were designed separately, and the Il-62 is larger and was built in much greater numbers.
Was the Il-62 less safe than Western jets of its time?
Yes, on the record. The Lockheed TriStar flew a similar number of flights with 4 counted fatal accidents against the Il-62's 12, and the DC-10 had fewer fatal accidents per flight. Four Il-62 crashes began with engine or system failures at the tail; the rest involved crews, weather and causes never found.
Sources
- 1.ASN record: Interflug Il-62, Königs Wusterhausen, 14 August 1972 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 2.ASN record: Aeroflot Il-62, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, 13 October 1972 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 3.ASN record: LOT Il-62, Warsaw, 14 March 1980 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 4.ASN record: Aeroflot Il-62M, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, 6 July 1982 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 5.ASN record: LOT flight LO5055, Warsaw, 9 May 1987 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 6.ASN record: Cubana Il-62M, Havana, 3 September 1989 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 7.ASN record: Aria Air Il-62M, Mashhad, 24 July 2009 (opens in a new tab) · Aviation Safety Network
- 8.SafetyScorer fleet model (World Bank departures, OpenSky averages) (opens in a new tab)Passenger departures 1967 to 7 October 2026 from a fleet model: deliveries with a median passenger service life of about 18 years and about 1,599 departures per aircraft per year (average of similar types in OpenSky). OpenSky sees too few of these aircraft because they were retired before 2019. After 1991 capped by departures reported by the former Soviet republics (World Bank). Uncertainty roughly ±50%.