TABSO Flight 101

TABSO Flight 101

A TABSO Ilyushin Il-18, similar to the accident aircraft
Accident summary
Date	24 November 1966
Summary	Crashed after Take-off, Bad weather & Pilot Error
Site	Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
Passengers	74
Crew	8
Fatalities	82 (all)
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Ilyushin Il-18B
Operator	TABSO

TABSO Flight LZ101 was a scheduled service of the Bulgarian national airline from Sofia, Bulgaria via Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czechoslovakia (today's Czech Republic) to East Berlin in the German Democratic Republic (today's Germany). The service was operated by the airline's 1960s' flagship equipment, the Ilyushin Il-18B airliner. On Thursday 24 November 1966, the service crashed near Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia (then part of Czechoslovakia), with the loss of 82 lives. The crash remains Slovakia's worst air disaster.

On the day of the accident, flight LZ101 was operated by an Il-18B airliner registered LZ-BEN. It had been manufactured in January 1964 (constructor's number 7101) and had been accepted by TABSO on 22 January that year. By the time of the accident, it had not been involved in any incidents and had been maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's schedules.

The crew comprised Commander (captain) Lubomir Todorov Antonov, 41 years old, with 11,959 total flight hours. He was among TABSO's most senior Il-18 commanders, having gained command of the type in July 1962, a month or so after its inauguration into his airline's service. Antonov had passed a proficiency test two days earlier. He was very familiar with Bratislava Airport, having operated there on 11 prior occasions. Second Pilot (first officer) was Svetomir Dimitrov Shakadanov, 36, with 5975 flight hours. He had passed a proficiency check the previous day. Navigator Officer was First Class Specialist Navigator Slavi Stefanov Tomakov. Radio-Telegraphy Officer was Nikola Aleksandrov Tasev, 36 years old, with 3160 flight hours. On-Board Mechanical Officer was Stoyan Todorov Rangelov, 42, with 3602 flight hours. Cabin crew comprised Stewardesses Maria Ivanova, Svetla Georgieva (also known as Svetla Marinova, married 18 days earlier to Ivan Slavkov) and Violina Stoichkova.