On 14 December 1942, a Tupolev ANT-20bis aircraft operated by Russian airline Aeroflot crashed during a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Urgench to Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The PS-124 operated on the Moscow–Kharkov–Rostov-on-Don–Mineralnye Vody route until it was transferred to Aeroflot's MAGON (Moscow Special Purpose Air Group) division in December 1940.

Due to World War II, the aircraft was transferred to Aeroflot's Uzbek division, serving Central Asian routes.

[2][3][4] On 12 December the aircraft flew from Urgench to Chardzhou (now Türkmenabat) with 85 passengers and 1,925 kg (4,244 lb) of cargo, piloted by I. I.

Two hours ten minutes into the flight, the aircraft suddenly pitched down and entered a steep dive, crashing into the ground at an 80° angle in the steppe three kilometres (two miles) northeast of the "Pakhta-Aral" state farm (86 km or 53 mi southwest of Tashkent Airport).