Death of Yuri Gagarin

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Death of Yuri Gagarin

A MiG-15UTI similar to the one involved in the crash
Accident
Date	27 March 1968 (1968-03-27)
Summary	Crashed following loss of control
Site	Near Novosyolovo, Vladimir Oblast, Soviet Union 56°2′47.9″N 39°1′35.4″E / 56.046639°N 39.026500°E / 56.046639; 39.026500
Aircraft
Aircraft type	MiG-15UTI
Operator	Soviet Air Forces
Registration	612739
Flight origin	Chkalovsky Airport, Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union
Occupants	2
Crew	2
Fatalities	2
Survivors	0

On March 27, 1968, Yuri Gagarin, the first man to go into space, died together with pilot Vladimir Seryogin during a routine training flight, after the MiG-15 jet fighter they were flying crashed near Novosyolovo in the Soviet Union.

After his death, the Soviet government declared a period of national mourning in the memory of Gagarin. This was the first case in Soviet history where a day of national mourning was declared after the death of a person while performing work for the state^[1] and was the first time it happened for someone who was not a head of state.^[2]

At 21:15 of the next day, the remains of Gagarin and Vladimir Seryogin were cremated.^[3] Their ashes were buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.^[4]

Wrapped in secrecy, the cause of the crash that killed Gagarin is uncertain and became the subject of several theories.^[5][6] At least three investigations into the crash were conducted separately by the Air Force, official government commissions, and the KGB.^[7][8] According to a biography of Gagarin by Jamie Doran and Piers Bizony, Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin, the KGB worked "not just alongside the Air Force and the official commission members but against them."^[7]