The
adventure of Mathias Rust
Look at the route above, do you think
you could do this? It was, in fact, the route taken by Mathais Rust between 13th
and 28th May 1987. It’s a route that would challenge any pilot, but
Mathias was just 18 years old with only around 80 hours flying experience, and
the aircraft was a rented Cessna 172 D-ECJB.
Mathias had learnt to fly in Germany,
and had convinced his father to fund a trip to build his flying hours towards
obtaining a CPL, not only that but he managed to hire the Cessna 172 with the
rear seats removed and long-range fuel tanks installed.
His original intention over the two
weeks was to make the final legs Helsinki to Stockholm and then back to
Hamburg. However, during the trip, Mathais decided he wanted to create an
"imaginary bridge" to the East and he has claimed that his flight
was intended to reduce tension and suspicion between the two Cold War sides of
the USA and Russia by flying through a supposedly impregnable air defence
system of Russia.
It was the last but one leg Helsinki
to Stockholm and he had still not made up his mind to do it or not, the risks
were huge, one moment he would think they will shoot me down for sure, but then
the next he would think well I have just got to try it. He departed Helsinki at
12:21 with a flight plane to Stockholm and then just a few minutes after
departure he made the decision, I’ll do it.
Mathias said
nothing to ATC but turned left towards the Estonian coast, descended as low as
he dared over the Baltic Sea, turned off the radio, and took up a heading
towards Moscow.
What
followed has gone down in aviation folk law. With the series of errors that
started, allowing Mathais to reach his destination.
Helsinki ATC
lost him on radar and assuming he must have ditched started an air and sea search
for the aircraft, they found nothing. But continued to assume he had ditched.
Mathias
crossed the Baltic coastline over Estonia and turned towards Moscow. At 14:29
he appeared on Soviet Air Defence (PVO) radar and, after failure to reply to an
IFF signal was assigned combat number 8255. Three SAM divisions tracked him
for some time but failed to obtain permission to launch at him. All air defences
were brought to readiness and two interceptors were sent to investigate. At
14:48 near the city of Gdov one of the pilots observed a white sport plane similar
to a Yakovlev Yak-12 and asked for permission to engage, but was denied.
The fighters
lost contact with Rust soon after this. While they were being directed back to
him he disappeared from radar near Staraya Russa. Air defences re-established
contact with Mathais Cessna several times but confusion followed all of these
events. The PVO system had shortly before been divided into several districts,
which simplified management but created additional problems for tracking
officers at the districts' borders. The local air regiment near Pskov was on
manoeuvres and, due to inexperienced pilots' tendency to forget correct IFF
designator settings, local control officers assigned all traffic in the area
friendly status, including Mathais Cessna.
Near Torzhok
there was a similar situation, as increased air traffic was created by a rescue
effort for an air crash the previous day. Mathias, flying a slow
propeller-driven aircraft, was confused with one of the helicopters taking part
in the rescue. He was spotted several more times and given false friendly
recognition twice. Mathias was considered as a domestic training plane defying
regulations and was issued least priority.
Around 7:00
p.m. Mathais arrived above downtown Moscow. He had initially intended to land
in the Kremlin, but changed his mind: he reasoned that landing inside, hidden
by the Kremlin walls, would have allowed the KGB to simply arrest him and deny
the incident. Therefore, he changed his landing spot to Red Square. Heavy
pedestrian traffic did not allow him to land there either, so after circling
about the square one more time, he was able to land on a bridge by St. Basil's
Cathedral. A later inquiry found that trolley wires normally strung over the
bridge, which would have prevented his landing there, had been removed for
maintenance that very morning, and were replaced the day after. After taxiing
past the cathedral he stopped about 100 metres from the square, where he was
greeted by curious passers-by and was asked for autographs. When asked where he
was from, he replied "Germany" making the bystanders think he was
from East Germany; but when he said West Germany, they were surprised. A
British doctor videotaped Mathais circling over Red Square and landing on the
bridge. Mathias was arrested two hours later.
Mathias Rust's
trial began in Moscow on 2 September 1987. He was sentenced to four years in a
general-regime labour camp for hooliganism, for disregard of aviation laws, and
for breaching the Soviet border. He was never transferred to a labour camp,
however, and instead served his time at the high-security Lefortovo temporary
detention facility in Moscow. Two months later, Reagan and Gorbachev agreed to
sign a treaty to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe, and the
Supreme Soviet ordered Mathais to be released in August 1988 as a goodwill
gesture to the West.
Mathias
flight through a supposedly impregnable air defence system had a great effect on
the Soviet military and led to the dismissal of many senior officers, including
Minister of Defence Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergei Sokolov and the
Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Air Defence Forces, former World War II
fighter ace pilot Chief Marshal Alexander Koldunov. The incident aided Mikhail
Gorbachev in the implementation of his reforms, by allowing him to dismiss
numerous military officials opposed to him.
Mathias Rust's
rented Reims Cessna F172P (serial # F17202087) registered D-ECJB, was sold to
Japan where it was exhibited for several years. In 2008 it was returned to
Germany and was placed in the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin.
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