Let L-410 Turbolet

The Let L-410 Turbolet is a rugged 19-seat turboprop with a weak safety record, and the record says as much about where it flies as about the aircraft. Most of its fatal crashes happened with small operators in Siberia, central and east Africa and Latin America. If you board one, your real question is about the operator.

Where you fly on an L-410

The L-410 is built in Kunovice, in what is now the Czech Republic. It first flew in 1969 and entered service in 1971, and most of the roughly 1,200 built went to Aeroflot for short local routes across the Soviet Union. About 350 are still in service. Production continues, with modern versions such as the UVP-E20 and the L-410NG.

Today you can meet it on Siberian regional routes, on bush and humanitarian flights in DR Congo and South Sudan, on Nepal's mountain routes including Lukla, on Caribbean and Central American island hops, and with skydiving clubs. Its strengths are short take-off, a sturdy undercarriage for grass and gravel, and simple systems that small operators can maintain.

The fatal record

Our data lists 74 fatal L-410 events up to 7 October 2026. 38 count toward the score: accidents on passenger flights, or crashes whose cause was never found. The worst:

• 26 August 1993, Sakha Avia, near Aldan, Russia: all 24 died.
• 24 August 2003, Tropical Airways, near Cap-Haïtien, Haiti: all 21 died.
• 25 August 2010, Filair, Bandundu, DR Congo: 20 of 21 died.
• 9 September 2018, South West Aviation (Slav-Air aircraft), Yirol, South Sudan: crashed on approach in bad weather. 20 of 23 died.
• 31 March 2006, TEAM, near Rio Bonito, Brazil: all 19 died.
• 12 September 2001, Aero Ferinco, Chichén Itzá, Mexico: all 19 died.

Since 2010, nine fatal accidents on passenger flights count, the latest near Kenge, DR Congo, on 25 September 2026, when all 17 on board died. They happened in DR Congo, Honduras, Brazil, Kenya, Russia and South Sudan.

The other 36 events are cargo, ferry, military, training, test, parachuting and other non-passenger flights, plus a 1972 hijacking in which the captain was shot. They include some of the worst recent crashes: two Dubnica Air L-410s carrying skydivers collided over Slovakia on 20 August 2015, killing seven, and a DOSAAF parachuting flight crashed at Menzelinsk, Russia, on 10 October 2021, killing 16 of 22. Our methodology explains why these do not count.

Is it the aircraft or where it flies?

Look at where the counted crashes cluster: Russia (12), then DR Congo (5) and Colombia (3), with two each in Georgia, Venezuela, Brazil, Kenya and South Sudan. These places combine poor weather data, few approach aids, short strips, overloaded aircraft and, in some cases, operators that regulators struggle to oversee. The same aircraft flown by well-run operators has done much better. No widespread design flaw has been found in the L-410.

We group the L-410 with classic turboprops, alongside the Twin Otter, because of its 1960s design. Our flight counts for it come from a fleet model, since flight-tracking networks see few of these aircraft, and after 1991 they are capped by what former Soviet republics reported. Treat any per-flight figure as a rough guide.

How to tell if you are on one, and what to check

Flight trackers show L410 for every version. It is a small twin turboprop with a straight wing above the cabin, and the main wheels fold into fairings on the sides of the fuselage.

If you are offered an L-410 flight in a region with a weak record, check whether the operator is on the EU air safety listEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary, whether it has a long history on that route, and whether it waits out bad weather. If you are an aid worker or contractor, ask your organisation which operators it approves; many large agencies vet charter airlines.