SSSR-V6 OSOAVIAKhIM was a semi-rigid airship designed by the Italian engineer and airship designer Umberto Nobile and constructed as a part of the Soviet airship program. The airship was named after the Soviet organisation OSOAVIAKhIM. V6 was the largest airship built in the Soviet Union and one of the most successful. In October 1937, it set a new world record for airship endurance of 130 hours 27 minutes under command of Ivan Pankow, beating the previous record by the German airship Graf Zeppelin. In February 1938, a Soviet Arctic expedition led by Ivan Papanin became stranded on the drifting ice pack. It was decided to send the V6 on a rescue mission, starting from Moscow with a short intermediate landing in Murmansk. During the flight, at approximately 19:30 on 6 February1938, the airship crashed into the hillside near Kandalaksha, 220 km south of Murmansk. She caught fire and was destroyed. Of the 19 people on board, 13 perished. Their remains were laid to rest at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. In 1972, a memorial was erected at the crash site by local authorities and the citizens of Kandalaksha. There is also a memorial sign inDolgoprudny, the then Soviet airship base. As was officially communicated by TASS, the crash was due to poor visibility and insufficient flight altitude. The conclusions of the government commission appointed to investigate the disaster were never made publicly available and remained classified for the decades. Among the circumstances resulted in the disaster there have long been rumored act of sabotage, outdated charts, and human error, but no evidences were ever presented. The recent research revealed that the airship flew off her route as the crew lost orientation in completely unfamiliar district because of darkness and snowfall. Supposedly, contributing to the disorientation were inefficient use of radio navigation equipment, lack of general navigational experience, and human fatigue. Barometric altimeters could have accumulated error while the crew was unable to maintain constant visual control of the altitude. The accident was a severe blow to the Soviet airship program which was eventually terminated in 1940.
