This video was made possible by CuriosityStream. Watch thousands of high-quality documentaries
and get access to my streaming service, Nebula, using the link in the description. In the 1950's, this is the pride of the Soviet
Union. A sleek new airliner, one of the first ever
to be powered by jets. It flies faster, further, and is a showcase
of Soviet technology. But there’s something wrong with this plane. Because over the course of a few months, airliners
just like this one have been involved in a truly bizarre string of incidents. These planes aren’t just crashing, they’re
being thrown up into the sky, sometimes by several thousand feet. Leaving investigators
racing for answers. The 1950’s saw the start of a boom in commercial
air travel. Flying had become safer, faster, and more
comfortable. And those who had the means, could now cross
entire continents in just hours. Or travel halfway around the world in less than a day. Air travel had entered a golden age. At least in the Western world. Because over in the Soviet Union, flying was
radically different. Soviet airliners were at least a generation
or two behind Western designs. They were slower, smaller, and offered little
in the way of comfort. Even worse, they couldn't fly very far. And in a country as massive as the Soviet
Union, that was a problem. Because flying across the country from Moscow
to Vladivostok meant having to stop to refuel at least six times. The trip could take as long as fifty hours,
and was made even more grueling aboard cramped and noisy aircraft that couldn’t fly high
enough to avoid rough weather. In the early 1950s, the Soviet Union was in
desperate need of a new, modern airliner. But rather than just catching up to the West,
they were about to make a massive gamble on a new technology. In 1952, the British stunned the world by
introducing the first ever jet-powered airliner. The de Havilland Comet flew nearly twice as
fast as any airliner before it, and fifteen thousand feet higher. Developing it had been a massive effort requiring
years of research and development. And while jet engines were still relatively
new and unproven, many could see they were the next evolution in air travel. Including one famous aircraft designer from
the Soviet Union named Andrei Tupolev who saw them as a way to bring Soviet air travel
into the future. A jet airliner like the Comet would cut flying
times down by a third and enable air travel on a mass scale. The problem was, Soviet leadership saw jets
as unreliable, fuel thirsty, and expensive. An excess better left to greedy western capitalists. What’s more, the Comet had taken the better
part of 10 years and millions to develop. Time and resources that Soviet leaders weren’t
eager to invest. But knowing this, Tupolev had a plan. He promised top Soviet brass that he could
build them a jet in just three years. A reliable jet airliner with even more passenger
capacity than the comet, built at a fraction of the cost. What’s more, a Soviet-designed jet airliner would prove to the world that the Soviet Union
was every bit as advanced as the West. It was an offer they couldn’t refuse. But how do you build a state-of-the-art jetliner
like the Comet in just three years? Well, you start with a massive shortcut. This is the Tu-16 bomber. Built to rain havoc over Europe and for Tupolev,
the basis of his new airliner. Having just finished designing it for the
Soviet Air Force, Tupolev figured he was already halfway there. He’d just need to widen the fuselage. But he could keep the engines, even if they
weren't the most efficient and a little loud. He could also reuse wings. Although better suited for high speed bombing
runs, It would save engineering time. The pilots might just have to land a little
faster. Same concept for the tail and vertical stabilizer. They could largely be reused. Landing gear, avionics and other components
could also be plucked right off the bomber’s assembly line. The heavy-duty military components would add
up to nearly a hundred thousand pounds. Making for one sturdy airliner. Designed in record time, and built at a fraction
of the cost, Tuplev would name the new airliner as the Tu-104. While Tupolev was putting the finishing touches
on his new plane, it was becoming apparent that the transition to jet travel wouldn’t
be so straightforward. By 1954, design flaws in the Comet caused
a series of tragic crashes which ultimately led to the aircraft’s grounding. The Comet was banned from commercial flights
for four years while investigators sorted out the issues. It meant by the time the Soviet Union’s
new jet airliner made its first test flight in June of 1955, the Soviets suddenly found
themselves with the world’s only operational jet airliner. But rather than take it as a sign of caution,
they jumped on the propaganda opportunity. While the 104 was still undergoing flight
testing in 1956, a delegation of Soviet leaders flew to Britain aboard the new plane. The rakesh-looking airliner caught many off
guard. Aviation experts and British news reporters
still reeling from the Comet’s grounding were kicked into a frenzy. The press were convinced that the Soviets
had leapfrogged years ahead of the west with a much larger and technologically superior
design. For the Soviets, it was a propaganda windfall. And it wouldn’t be the last time they
showed off their new jet. Over the coming months, 104s visited cities
across Europe. Each time, crowds greeted the aircraft and
dignitaries were given an opportunity to marvel at Soviet technology. In 1957, a 104 even showed up to the Paris
Air Show, marking the first ever appearance by non-western built aircraft. A few months later, the new airliner flew
all the way to the United States for another state visit, marking the first ever transatlantic
crossing by a jet airliner. For the Soviets, the 104 a huge propaganda
win and quickly developing it out of a bomber seemed like a masterstroke of genius. But the first signs of trouble were already
beginning to appear. Compared to other airliners, the Tu-104 was
a handful to fly. Pilots complained about heavy, unresponsive
controls. And the aircraft’s enormous weight and highly
swept wings made low speed flying particularly challenging. Landing at busy civilian airports was a white
knuckle affair. Pilots were so afraid of stalling, it was
common practice to land the plane at higher speeds than designed. Stopping was another issue, the airliner had
no air brakes, no thrust reversers, and a weak set of wheel brakes. A hastily deployed parachute was often the
only thing that kept the airliner from continuing past the runway. But the complaints were brushed off by Soviet
authorities. That is, until 1958 when the airliner began
exhibiting behaviors that were impossible to ignore. The first sign of trouble came in February,
when a CSA 104 flew into turbulence, which caused both engines to flame out. Without power, the aircraft fell twenty thousand
feet, before the frantic pilots managed to relight the engines. A month later, another 104 also ran into turbulent
weather. But this time, the aircraft was hurled up
into the sky and the pilots couldn’t stop it from climbing all the way to forty four
thousand feet. Higher than the plane should ever fly. Eventually the aircraft stalled, and began
tumbling back to earth before the pilots managed to regain control. Despite the near-disasters, Soviet authorities
were quick to blame the pilots. But the incidents continued. In August, another 104 was mysteriously hurled
up into the sky. Again, the aircraft stalled. But this time, the pilots couldn’t recover
and tragically, there were no survivors. Just two months later, a 104 flying between
Beijing and Moscow was once again, hurled into the sky. This time, the pilot heroically radioed back
details as they were happening. While he couldn't save the aircraft, the information
radioed back would prove pivotal. Authorities could no longer ignore the bizarre
series of accidents. There was clearly something wrong with the
plane. But remarkably, they wouldn't ground the aircraft. Instead, letting it continue carrying passengers
while they were still working to uncover the mystery. Eventually investigators would come to realize
that the cause was powerful updrafts that the pilots couldn’t counteract. And the aircraft’s bomber-derived origins
were at least partly to blame. The 104’s larger pressurized cabin was prone
to having its center of gravity shifted rearward, depending on how the aircraft was loaded. This meant that there was a natural tendency
to pitch upwards in an updraft and the 104 wasn’t powerful enough to counteract these
forces, leaving the pilots helpless. A number of emergency modifications were made
and the aircraft was restricted from flying above a certain altitude. But not before another incident in 1959, when
another 104 hit an updraft before the pilots managed to recover. A critical design flaw had cost 144 lives. And although fixes were made,
The aircraft would still go on to earn an extensive rap sheet of other accidents. The most common were runway overshoots, thanks
the tricky nature of flying the heavy bomber derrived airliner. Nearly one out of every five Tu-104s that
was built would end up destroyed in accidents. But given the secretive nature of the Soviet
Union, these incidents received little news coverage. Even so, the airliner developed a notorious
reputation amongst the traveling public. Even becoming the theme of a 1960’s folk song. Like the British, the Soviets paid heavily
for pioneering jet travel. But by 1958, the Comet had been heavily redesigned
and was back in service. And the Americans had introduced their own
jet airliner Any progranada value that the 104 once had was gone. But the Soviet Union’s first jetliner played
a vital role in modernizing air travel inside the country. To accommodate the jet, air traffic control
systems were modernized, new terminals were built, and runways through the soviet union
were lengthened. And the operational lessons learned from 104
would help pave the way for future Soviet airliners, earning the 104 a spot amongst
the world’s pioneering aircraft. I’ve been busy working on my most ambitious
video yet on the story of the most advanced aircraft ever built, the Northrop B-2 Spirit. I cover the mysterious plane’s Cold War
origins, the controversy surrounding its development, and why forty years on, it remains the world’s
most feared bomber. What started out as any other Mustard video,
has grown to become my biggest project yet. And the video I’ve invested the most energy
into. I’ll be releasing it December 16th, on Nebula. Nebula is where you can watch exclusive Mustard
videos, like the story of the MiG-31 Interceptor, the legendary F-117 Nighthawk, and the M-50
Bounder, along with lesser known bizarre proposals like the MiG-25 business jet, and the insane
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