Was This The Most Dangerous Airliner Ever?

In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s the Soviet Union was in critical need of newer, more modern civil airliners. Existing aircraft like the Lisunov Li-2 (a license-build derivative of the Douglas DC-3) and Ilyushin Il-12 were small, slow, and outdated when compared to their western counterparts. Travelling across the vast expanses of the Soviet Union was measured in days due multiple refueling stops, and often unpredictable weather.

By 1953 plans were underway to solve the Soviet Union's airliner shortfall, but one pioneering aircraft designer named Andrei Tupolev was committed to propelling Soviet civil aviation well into the future. By 1953, the British de Havilland Comet was beginning to prove itself in passenger service. It flew nearly twice as fast as the latest generation of piston powered airliners, and much higher. With its speed and ability to fly above most weather, the Comet was proving to be much more convenient and comfortable. Tupolev was convinced that jet power was exactly what the Soviet Union needed, but Soviet leadership was skeptical. Jet engines were relatively new and unproven. There were lingering questions about long-term reliability, fuel consumption, and whether the resources needed to retrain Soviet pilots could be justified. More modern piston airliners seemed to be a more sensible path forward.

Realizing that Soviet leadership would be unwilling to commit significant time and resources required to develop a jet airliner like the de Havilland Comet, Tupolev proposed an alternative approach. Having just finished designing the jet-powered Tu-16 heavy bomber, Tupolev proposed converting the aircraft into an airliner. Doing so would save significant engineering time, allowing for the airliner to be introduced within just 3 years. It would also be far less expensive, as factories were already configured to manufacture Tu-16 components that could be reused on the airliner, like engines, wings, landing gear and avionics. The approach would allow the new jetliner to enter service in 1956 - years ahead of the Americans. It was an irresistible proposition, but like the British, the Soviets would pay a heavy price for being the first to introduce jet travel.

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[shimavitz]

The pilot reporting all the details before the crash is a hero.

[MrVijay]

Mustard is back again with another quality content. Always worth the wait.

[georgegonzalez]

Like many early jets, like the B-47 and B-58, the pilots would often take the handbook landing speed, and add 5 knots for the wife and 3 for each child.

[aidenmclaughlin]

Might have been a horrible craft, but you’ve gotta admit that it looks incredible. Those integrated jet engines are sleek as hell

[easy_eight]

The Soviet Union's motto could just be: "Safety is secondary, superiority is priority"

[maxuabo]

Who doesn’t love trying out the first prototype of the first generation of anything

[i.o.inoagenta]

Great video! Thank you

Just some details here: 
all soviet passenger's pilots those days were former army pilots. And this is very important detail about why engineers couldn't understand why such situations happen with the plane. And why they were blamed by Tupolev for incidents and crashes. That planes had blackboxes but very basic; every time on inspection after crash there were no any voice recording. So black box constructors were blamed for failed device as well. But again, nothing was wrong with black box: just pilots when they fought for the plane they did it in total silence. Like they tought and did in the army. So that heroic captain (Garold Dmitrievich Kuznetsov) did was completely uncomon. He commented every step and result. He fought with his crew for the plane til the end. His last words before crash on black box recording were "..we are dying! Goodbye!"

[nigelrg]

The 707, briefly mentioned here, was the real advance in jetliners. It was the first aircraft to have flexible wings, which avoided the need for massive reinforcements at the junction of wing and fuselage.

[heange]

One of the worst accidents of TU-104 is the Soviet Navy СССР-42332 in the 80s. It carried on board 50 admirals and high ranking officers of the Soviet Pacific fleet. All passengers were killed. Nearly reduced the whole command line of the Soviet Pacific fleet to nil.

[leonidpopkov]

When I was 4 years old I flew by TU-104 from Moskow to Sverdlovsk. From the comfort point of view it was very fine journey.

[tidmouthmilk]

I love how much the CG renders have evolved over time on this channel. They were always nice looking, even with the models on the desk aesthetic of the older videos, but seeing the fully rendered vehicles in an outdoor and realistic looking setting I'm surprised I'm still watching a series on YouTube sometimes.

[sardarahmed]

Something i just feel so lucky to be born in a era where aviation is much more safe & mature

[vladilenkalatschev]

My dad flew on board of TU-104 several times in 60s. He told me that the airliner was really comfortable and the catering was great with black caviar and cognac

[Googleissmart-iquv]

''The TU-104 is the best aircraft in the world. In 5 minutes it will bring you to your grave'' really got me 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Poorschedriver]

I've been watching Mustard for years now, and every time I see a new video I'm blown away by every aspect of it. Honestly, from the intriguing topic, to the life-like 3-D models, to the smooth narration, you guys just amaze me. Seriously the most underrated channel on YT. Thank you for providing this content, and yes I've joined Nebula I just can't comment on there!

[Mathias-RetroFutureTech]

I can imagine these flights, where the plane stalled, to be one of the most horrible things one can experience... this must have been absolutely terrifying.

[symilarian]

My parents and I flew on a Comet from New York to London 1959. First Jet airliner for us. It was really a great experience. We went on to a different flight to Paris. We heard that the same plane (Comet) went on to Stockholm and exploded in the air. Something to do with the cabin pressure system. Our next flights were on the DC8 and 707.

[JaimeBarr-wm]

The pilot reporting all the details before the crash is a hero.. Mustard is back again with another quality content. Always worth the wait..

[BaronSirolf]

This should deserve to be on television 10 times more then any other documentry I really love your content!

[bogwife]

a beautiful plane that probably should have stayed in an aviation museum from the moment it was first built