The Ilyushin Il-14P involved was built in 1956 and flew until 1959 registered as CCCP-Л1772 for Aeroflot, before the registration was changed to СССР-61772. By the time of the accident, the aircraft had completed 16,257 flying hours.^[1]

The Il-14P departed at 07:42 local time from Baku for Saratov with a stopover in Makhachkala. The weather at the time of departure was heavy rain and thick clouds with a ceiling of 140–200 m (460–660 ft). About 12 minutes after takeoff, at an altitude of 1,500 m (4,900 ft), the pilots reported problems with the engines and assumed that the cause was wet spark plugs. The flight made a 180° turn to return to Baku. Shortly thereafter, the crew reported strong vibrations and low revs from the left engine.

At 07:59, the crew reported that the temperature had dropped sharply in both engines. Three minutes later, the pilots reported reaching an altitude of 200 m (660 ft). However, due to the bad weather, the aircraft had already flown past the airport and was located over the Caspian Sea south of the Absheron Peninsula. Five seconds later, the crew radioed an SOS call and reported that they would ditch the aircraft in the sea. That was the last radio contact with Flight 2723.

No trace of the aircraft was found until a few months later when the wreckage was found by accident on the seabed in 23 m (75 ft) of water some 18–20 km (11–12 mi) south of Nargin Island by Navy divers searching for another sunken object. The aircraft and most of the bodies of those on board were removed from the water by a floating crane. The fuselage had little significant damage, indicating that the aircraft hit the water at a shallow angle and remained relatively intact. The investigation was unable to find the cause of the engine failures.^[2]

• List of previously missing aircraft

• Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network