Mathias Rust
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mathias Rust (born 1968) is a German pilot who, in 1987, at the age of 19, flew from Uetersen to Iceland and then via Norway and Finland to Moscow, eluding the Soviet air defences and landing on Vasilevski Spusk next to the Red Square near the Kremlin in the heart of the capital of the USSR.
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[edit] Evading air defences
Some sources were quick to claim that the very fact that Rust landed freely in the center of Moscow is the proof that Soviet Union had no credible air defences. This is certainly untrue. In fact, Rust didn't evade the air defences, and was tracked for most of his flight path. The reason why he was allowed to continue his flight was pretty complex, but mostly it stems from the fact that after the scandal over Korean Air Flight 007 shot down just about five years previous, Soviet air defences were explicitly forbidden to act aggressively about any definitely civilian aircraft. Failure to track him afterwards was caused by repeated confusion with domestic aircraft.
[edit] Flight profile
After leaving Uetersen on May 13 Rust refuelled the rented Cessna 172B (D-ECJB) in the morning of May 28, 1987 at Helsinki-Malmi Airport. He told air traffic control that he was going to Stockholm, but right after his final communication with traffic control he turned his plane to the east. Traffic controllers tried to contact him, as he was moving around the busy Helsinki-Moscow route, but Rust turned off all communications equipment aboard.
Rust disappeared from the Finnish traffic control radar near Sipoo. Traffic control presumed an emergency and rescue effort was organized, including Finnish Frontier Guard patrol boat. They found an oil patch near the place where Rust disappeared from radars and performed underwater search but with no results. Later he was charged about $100,000 for this effort. The origin of the oil patch remained unknown.
In the meantime, Rust crossed the Baltic coastline in Estonia and turned towards Moscow. At 14:29 he appeared on air defence radar and, after failure to answer to IFF signal, was assigned combat number 8255. Three AAM 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 "like Yak-12" and asked for permission to engage, but was denied.
Soon after, fighters lost contact with Rust, and while they were directed back to him, he disappeared from radars near Staraya Russa. German magazine Bunte speculated that he might have landed there for a time, citing that he changed his clothes somewhere during his flight, and that he took too much time to fly to Moscow considering his plane's speed and weather conditions.
Air defence reestablished contact with Rust's plane several times, but confusion followed all of these events. In a recent reorganization of PVO, the system was divided into several districts, which simplified management but created additional overhead for tracking officers at the districts' borders. The local air regiment near Pskov was on maneuvers and due to inexperienced pilots tendency to forget correct IFF designators settings, local control officers assigned all traffic in the area friendly status, including Rust.
Near Torzhok there was similar situation, as increased air traffic was created by a rescue effort for an air crash which happened the previous day. Rust on his slow prop plane was confused with one of the helicopters taking part in the rescue. Afterwards, he was spotted several more times, but given false friendly recognition twice; he was considered as a domestic training plane defying the regulations, and was issued least priority.
Several interesting events coincided with the final stretch of his route. The control system of the Central Air Defence District was unexpectedly turned down for unscheduled maintenance, and all flights around Sheremetyevo airport were forbidden for about twenty minutes -- just for the time Rust was above it. The origins of these events are still unknown.
Around 7:00 p.m. Rust appeared above the Moscow center. He was initially intended to land in Kremlin, but due to lack of proper landing space reverted to the Red Square. Large pedestrian traffic didn't allow him to land there as well, so after circling about the square one more time, he finally was able to land onto Vasilevsky Spusk - a less congested open space by St. Basil's Cathedral. After taxiing past the Cathedral he finally arrived at the square, where he was greeted by people and arrested soon afterwards.
[edit] Aftermath
A few days after the landing, Mikhail Gorbachev replaced the defense minister Sergei Sokolov and anti-air defense commander Alexander Koldunov, a former World War II fighter ace (both of whom were opposed to glasnost and perestroika) with men who supported his policies. More than 2,000 officers (again, most of whom were opposed to Gorbachev's reform) lost their jobs. This move was critical in winning over the previously fiercely conservative and anti-reform military.
Rust's trial started in Moscow on September 2, 1987. He was sentenced to four years in a labour camp following light regime terms for hooliganism, disregard of Aviation laws and infringement of the Soviet border. After a prison term of 432 days at the Lefortovo jail in Moscow, he was released on parole. He returned to West Germany on August 3, 1988 after long-term former foreign minister Andrei Gromyko, acting as president of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, signed the document that enabled Rust to regain his freedom.
[edit] Later life and crimes
While doing his obligatory community service in a German hospital, Rust stabbed a female co-worker who rejected him. The injuries were life-threatening and he was sentenced to four years in prison for attempted murder and was released after having served fifteen months. His image in public suffered severe damage.
He then returned to Russia, where he worked as a shoe salesman, and afterwards spent two years travelling the world. He met his wife (Athena) in Trinidad, and according to the latest reports, lives with her in Berlin, and works for a finance company.
1994 April: Mathias Rust returned to Russia and visited points of interest like the site he landed on in 1987.
2001: Mathias Rust is convicted in court on charges he stole a cashmere-pullover and has to pay 10.000 Marks (~€ 5.000).
2003 August: Mathias Rust has launched an internet site of some kind of "think tank" called Orion & Isis which endeavours to "work on issues which contain non-violent solutions to resolve conflicts between government, ethnic or religious institutions. Applicants need to be in possession of an administrative position with the connected powers of attorney or in possession of major influence from any other level. After gaining not much publicity the internet site went down rather quick.
2004 July: Mathias Rust is living in Berlin married to his second wife Athena.
2004: Convicted of fraud, has to pay € 1.500 for stolen goods
Today, a wealthy Japanese businessman owns Rust's aircraft, and he is keeping it in a hangar until its value appreciates.
[edit] Influence to public culture
Rust's flight fitted really well into the absurdity of later-Soviet life and was the source of numerous jokes and urban legends.
- One of the jokes call to renaming Red Square into Airport Sheremetyevo-3.
- A group of people, with luggage and stuff, gathers on a Red Square. Policeman asks them about the reason, and they answer him: "We're waiting for the plane to Hamburg."
- An urban legend states that when a policeman notified the chief of Red Square security about the plane, he replied "F%^k the plane, make sure that cows don't walk on the square!"
- Very soon after the incident, SubLogic, the original publishers of the Flight Simulator franchise, issued a scenery disk that expanded the original program's coverage area to include Western Europe. A challenge in the program was to land in Red Square like Rust had just done.
The German band The Robocop Kraus has a song called "You Don't Have To Shout" on their album They Think They Are The Robocop Kraus which references the flight.
The studio band Megabyte created a song "Secret Destination (The Flight of Mathias Rust)" on their album "Powerplay", released by Innovative Communication in 1987.
