At 10:00 local time, Flight 366 started to circle the city at , in order to use
fuel, reducing weight and decreasing the risk of fire in the event of a crash. The ground services at
Pulkovo Airport (LED) were preparing the dirt runway for the landing. Each circuit around the city took the aircraft approximately 15 minutes. During this time the crew attempted to force the nose gear to lock into the fully extended position by pushing it with a pole taken from the cloak closet. On the eighth and last circuit while from the airport, the no. 1 engine flamed out due to fuel starvation. The remaining engine ceased shortly thereafter, with the aircraft above the city center, traveling east over
St. Isaac's Cathedral and the
Admiralty. Upon loss of power the flight crew ditched the aircraft in the wide
Neva River. Eyewitnesses saw Flight 366 upstream. Immediately after a turn, the aircraft glided over the high steel structures of the
Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge with approximately of clearance. The Tu-124 flew over the
Alexander Nevsky Bridge – under construction at the time – barely missing it. The pilot managed to land the aircraft on the river, in close proximity to an 1898-built steam
tugboat. The plane began to fill with water. The captain of the tugboat saw the plane in distress and went to help. He and his crew broke the aircraft's windshield to tie a cable to the cockpit's control wheel and proceeded to tow the craft to the river bank. During the tow all passengers remained on board. Passengers and crew then evacuated the cabin via an access hatch on the plane's roof. == See also ==