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N0KFQ > TODAY 28.05.15 16:42l 45 Lines 1991 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 57137_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - May 28
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<ZL2BAU<N0KFQ
Sent: 150528/1430Z 57137@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.63
1987
Matthias Rust lands his plane in Red Square
Matthias Rust, a 19-year-old amateur pilot from West Germany,
takes off from Helsinki, Finland, travels through more than 400
miles of Soviet airspace, and lands his small Cessna aircraft in
Red Square by the Kremlin. The event proved to be an immense
embarrassment to the Soviet government and military.
Rust, described by his mother as a "quiet young man_with a
passion for flying," apparently had no political or social agenda
when he took off from the international airport in Helsinki and
headed for Moscow. He entered Soviet airspace, but was either
undetected or ignored as he pushed farther and farther into the
Soviet Union. Early on the morning of May 28, 1987, he arrived
over Moscow, circled Red Square a few times, and then landed just
a few hundred yards from the Kremlin. Curious onlookers and
tourists, many believing that Rust was part of an air show,
immediately surrounded him. Very quickly, however, Rust was
arrested and whisked away. He was tried for violating Soviet
airspace and sentenced to prison. He served 18 months before
being released.
The repercussions in the Soviet Union were immediate. Soviet
leader Mikhail Gorbachev sacked his minister of defense, and the
entire Russian military was humiliated by Rust's flight into
Moscow. U.S. officials had a field day with the event-one
American diplomat in the Soviet Union joked, "Maybe we should
build a bunch of Cessnas." Soviet officials were less amused.
Four years earlier, the Soviets had been harshly criticized for
shooting down a Korean Airlines passenger jet that veered into
Russian airspace. Now, the Soviets were laughingstocks for not
being able to stop one teenager's "invasion" of the country. One
Russian spokesperson bluntly declared, "You criticize us for
shooting down a plane, and now you criticize us for not shooting
down a plane."
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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