[2][3] Due to its swept wing and powerplant design, the Tu-114 was able to travel at speeds typical of modern jetliners, 880 km/h (550 mph).

[citation needed] In response to a directive No.1561-868 from the Council of Ministers and Ministry of Aircraft Production order No.571, issued in August 1955, the Tupolev Design Bureau was to create an airliner that had a range of 8,000 km (4,971 mi), based on the Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bomber, powered by four Kuznetsov NK-12 engines driving contra-rotating propellers.

[1] The Tu-114 used the basic wing, empennage, landing gear, and powerplants of the Tu-95 bomber, mated to a totally new pressurized fuselage of much larger diameter.

VIPs like Nikita Khrushchev and his wife travelled in the sleeping compartments, with their staff and entourage in two tourist class cabins with 3+3 layout.

The Tu-114 was still in the testing phase and had completed its first long range flight only four months earlier, after which postflight analysis found that hairline cracks had formed in the engines.

Trusting the Soviet leadership to a still experimental aircraft was risky, but the only other option for a flight to the United States would be the short range Il-18 which would require multiple fueling stops.

Khrushchev later said, "We didn't publicize the fact that Tupolev's son was with us" for "to do so, would have meant giving explanations, and these might have been damaging to our image".

[4] When it arrived at Andrews Air Force Base, the ground crew found that the aircraft was so large and its landing gear so tall that they had no passenger steps high enough to reach the forward hatch.

It was subsequently used for Aeroflot flights to international destinations including Copenhagen, Havana, Montreal, New Delhi, Paris, Belgrade and Tokyo (in co-operation with JAL).

After the United States government placed political pressure on Guinea, landing rights were denied after four flights, and the Tu-114 service had to be routed through Dakar, Senegal, instead.

Further American pressure to isolate Cuba resulted in denial of landing rights after three flights, and the route was changed to Algiers, Algeria, instead.

These aircraft refuelled at Olenya near Murmansk, in the far North of the Soviet Union, and then flew via the Barents Sea to Havana.

Usually, this fuel load was enough, but in case of strong headwinds, an emergency refuelling stop in Nassau in The Bahamas was necessary; this was an American military field.

Tu-114 burned 5,000-5,500 kg/hour of fuel at cruise flight, which is comparable to a modern wide-body twinjet, such as a Boeing 787 Dreamliner or Airbus A350 XWB.

The Tu-126 (NATO reporting name Moss) was used by the Soviet Air Force in the airborne early warning (AEW) role until being replaced by the Beriev A-50.

The plane's wing struck a large snow mound at speed and the propellers of the number 3 and 4 engines hit the runway, resulting in the aircraft veering off course and catching fire.

The aircraft was bound for Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo with a number of Africans and a Soviet trade delegation on board.

[10] Another non-operational aircraft was written off, with fuselage damage, on 7 August 1962 at Vnukovo Airport after the nose undercarriage collapsed during servicing.