This Aeroflot Tupolev TU-144 CCCP-77102 Crashed At Goussainville , France On June 3 , 1993 . Editorial Image

The 1973 Paris Air Show Tu-144 crash was the destruction of the second production Tupolev Tu-144 at Goussainville, Val-d'Oise, France, which killed all six crew members and eight people on the ground.The crash, at the Paris Air Show on Sunday, 3 June 1973, damaged the development program of the Tupolev Tu-144 .One theory is that a French Mirage jet sent to photograph the aircraft without the knowledge of the Soviet crew caused the pilots to take evasive maneuvers, resulting in the crash. Another theory is that in a rivalry with the Anglo-French Concorde, the pilots attempted a maneuver that was beyond the capabilities of the aircraft.The aircraft involved was Tupolev Tu-144S ????-77102, manufacturer's serial number 01–2, the second production Tu-144. The aircraft had first flown on 29 March 1972. This aircraft had been modified compared to the initial prototype to include landing gear that retracted into the nacelles, and retractable canards. The pilot was Mikhail Kozlov,[and the co-pilot was Valery M. Molchanov. Also on board were G. N. Bazhenov, the flight navigator, V. N. Benderov, deputy chief designer and engineer major-general, B. A. Pervukhin, senior engineer, and A. I. Dralin, flight engineer.The crash occurred in front of 250,000 people toward the end of the show.Once in flight, the Tu-144 made what appeared to be a landing approach, with the landing gear out and the "moustache" canards extended, but then with all four engines at full power, climbed rapidly. Possibly stalling below 2,000 ft (600 m), the aircraft pitched over and went into a steep dive.[6] Trying to pull out of the subsequent dive with the engines again at full power, the aircraft broke up in mid-air, possibly due to overstressing the airframe. The left wing came away first, and then the aircraft disintegrated and crashed destroying 15 houses, and killing all six people on board the Tu-144 and eight more on the ground.Three children were among those killed, and 60 people received severe injuries.