ČSA Flight 523, operated by an Ilyushin Il-18D, was a scheduled flight from

Prague Ruzyně International Airport Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

(PRG/LKPR),

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Shannon Airport Shannon Airport () is an international airport located in County Clare in Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. With almost 2 million passengers in 2023, the airport is the third busiest ...

and

Gander International Airport Gander International Airport is located in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and is operated by the Gander International Airport Authority. Canadian Forces Base Gander shares the airfield but is a separate entity from the airport. Th ...

, with 69 people on board, on 5 September 1967 it crashed on climb-out from Gander.

Crash

On 5 September 1967, ČSA Flight 523 crashed on climb-out from

, after being re-fuelled for the final leg of the flight. The aircraft took off from runway 14 climbing at an abnormally shallow angle. The aircraft struck a supporting wire of a mast, climbed to , then started to dive, hitting the ground at a speed of approximately , hit a railway embankment past the end of the runway, caught fire and broke into pieces. Four crewmen and 33 passengers were killed. The aircraft was new, manufactured in April 1967, having flown only 766 hours. The crew, replaced by a fresh one in Gander, consisted of a captain with over 17,000 hours experience (over 5,000 on the Il-18), familiar with the airport as he had been flying there since 1962, and a co-pilot with over 10,000 hours experience.

Investigation

The investigation of the incident started immediately; Czechoslovak and Soviet experts, including Genrikh Novozhilov from Ilyushin and the Czech World War II fighter pilot

František Fajtl Lieutenant General František Fajtl (20 August 1912 – 4 October 2006) was a Czech fighter pilot of World War II. He was a British Royal Air Force (RAF) squadron and wing commander and led a group of Czechoslovak fighter pilots who formed an a ...

, also took part in it. Several possibilities were discussed but the cause of the accident was never determined.

Memorials

As the accident occurred during

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 28 to October 29, 1967. It was a category one world's fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most s ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, the Czechoslovakian government afterwards donated its

Expo pavilion A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

to the government of Newfoundland as a gesture of gratitude for rescue efforts following the crash. The pavilion was moved to

Grand Falls-Windsor Grand Falls-Windsor is a town located in the central region of the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, with a population of 13,853 at the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census. The town i ...

, Newfoundland, where it was opened in 1971. It remains in use as the Gordon Pinsent Centre for the Arts. In 2015 a memorial plaque was unveiled in Gander to honour the crash victims.

References

External links

ICAO circular
{{DEFAULTSORT:CSA Flight 523 Aviation accidents and incidents in 1967 Czech Airlines accidents and incidents Accidents and incidents involving the Ilyushin Il-18 Airliner accidents and incidents in Canada Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador 1967 in Newfoundland and Labrador