![]()
Aircraft similar to the one involved in the hijacking
| |
Hijacking | |
---|---|
Date | 2 November 1973 (1973-11-02) |
Summary | Hijacking |
Site | Vnukovo Airport, Moscow, RSFSR, USSR |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Yakovlev Yak-40 |
Operator | Aeroflot |
Registration | CCCP-87607 |
Flight origin | Bykovo Airport, Moscow |
Destination | Bryansk Airport |
Occupants | 31 |
Passengers | 28 (incl. hijackers) |
Crew | 3 |
Fatalities | 2 (hijackers) |
Injuries | 4 (3 passengers and 1 crew) |
Survivors | 29 (incl. 2 hijackers) |
Aeroflot Flight 19 was a scheduled passenger flight from Bykovo Airport, Moscow, to Bryansk Airport, Bryansk. On 2 November 1973, a Yak-40 aircraft operating the flight was hijacked by 4 people 10 minutes before landing. The aircraft was then diverted to Moscow's Vnukovo Airport, where the hijackers demanded a buyout and provision of a flight to Sweden. The hostages inside the aircraft were subsequently liberated after the authorities stormed the aeroplane. This is one of the first well-known cases of storming a hijacked aircraft on the territory of the USSR.
Yak-40K — factory number 9120618 and MSN 18-06 — constructed by Saratov Aviation Plant in July 1971 and delivered to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. It was registered as CCCP-87607 and sent to the Civil Aviation Administration of the Central Districts, tentatively to the Bryansk Aeroflot division.[1]
Captain Ivan Kashin (36), was one of the first pilots to learn to fly the Yak-40.[2] He graduated the Sasovo Civil Aviation School in 1957.[3] First officer on the flight was Stanislav Talpekin, flight engineer — Nikolai Nikitin.[1]
The aircraft was operating a routine domestic flight F-19 (Ф-19) from Bykovo Airport, Moscow, to Bryansk Airport. Yak-40 departed Moscow at 10:45 local time with 28 passengers and 3 crew members on board. The estimated flight time to Bryansk on that day was 50 minutes.
Ten minutes prior to landing at Bryansk Airport, four male hijackers (Viktor Romanov, Vladimir Zhalnin, Pyotr Bondarev, and Aleksandr Nikiforov) retrieved guns out of the overhead luggage bins and took passengers as hostages, then attempted to storm the cockpit. The noises from the passenger cabin reached the cockpit.[4] Captain Kashin asked his flight engineer to investigate the situation in the cabin, and after Nikitin realised that there were hijackers on board, he immediately shouted the information to the flight crew and shut the door from the outside. The flight engineer tried to defuse one of the hijackers (Romanov), however, he was injured by Zhalnin.[5] One of the passengers (Vladimir Gaponenko) attempted to defuse Bondarev, but he lost his balance from the aircraft pitching, and as a result got injured.
In the flight deck Kashin sent a distress signal to air traffic control. Meanwhile, the attackers managed to break the lock on the cockpit door and entered the flight deck. Hijackers demanded the flight crew head back to Moscow. Whilst on approach to Vnukovo Airport, the intruders forced the crew to inform the authorities that they demanded payment of US$1.5 million for all hostages and for information about future aircraft hijacker groups. Despite difficult weather conditions in Moscow, the crew managed to successfully land the Yak-40 at Vnukovo.
KGB Chairman (and future leader of the USSR) Yuri Andropov and the Minister of Internal Affairs Nikolai Shchelokov soon arrived at the airport and began developing a strategy to free the hostages.
Hijackers let two injured hostages (Nikitin and Gaponenko) out of the plane. Then, the hijackers put forward extra conditions: the authorities must let them refuel the aircraft and give them half of the buyout (or ransom) in return for half of the hostages. The intruders plan was to fly to Leningrad, where they would let the rest of the hostages out and refuel the Yak-40, enough for them to fly to Sweden. Nevertheless, it was decided to not let the captured aeroplane out of Moscow, and instead storm the aircraft. A storming group of volunteer policemen (Mikhail Lyakhmanov, Vladimir Rakov, Aleksandr Mushkarin, Nikolai Kapustin and Aleksandr Popryadukhin) was put together by the authorities. This group secretly sneaked towards the plane and hid under it next to the front landing gear. After several hours of waiting the intruders were informed that the authorities were ready to transfer the money. At first, a suitcase full of fake banknotes was supposed to be carried by a KGB officer, but at the last minute he refused to do it, so a transport police officer carried it instead.
After hijackers heard movements under the Yakovlev Yak-40, they assumed that the buyout was finally delivered. One of the hijackers (Nikiforov) opened the door, then sergeant Rakov pressed a pike pole against the door. Hijacker Zhalnin began shooting at the police officers, who retaliated. As a result, Nikiforov fell onto the airfield, sustaining serious injuries (from which he later died in hospital). At the same time, an armoured personnel carrier approached the aircraft and fired a line from the machine gun aiming at the plane, which suffered around 90 bullet hits. Tear gas was then used; however, the smoke bomb got stuck between the seats, which caused the upholstery to burn. As the smoke flocked the cabin, panic arose amongst the passengers, who started to escape the aircraft. Hijackers Bondarev and Zhalnin escaped the plane together with the passengers, whilst Romanov shot himself. As a result of storming the aircraft two passengers were injured, but none died.
The two remaining hijackers were subsequently arrested. Zhalnin, who was 16 years old at the time, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. After being released he soon died. Pyotr Bondarev was declared insane with the help of his parents and was sent to a psychiatric hospital, where he spent 6 months. He died in Moscow in 2006.
On 19 December 1973 at a ceremony in Moscow, police officer Aleksandr Popryadukhin and captain Ivan Kashin were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for courage.
The Yak-40 was soon repaired and resumed operations. In 1987 it was transferred to the Ministry of General Machine Building and sent to TsNIIMash. The aircraft is now scrapped.[1]
After the hijacking of Flight 19, screening of passengers in airports in the Soviet Union was significantly improved and tightened. New departments were created to tackle terrorism in the country.
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1973 (1973)
| |
---|---|
Jan 21 Jan 22 Kano Nigeria Airways Boeing 707 crash Jan 29 Feb 19 Feb 21 Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 Feb 24 Feb 26 DeKalb–Peachtree Airport Learjet 24 crash Mar 3 Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307 Mar 5 Apr 10 Invicta International Airlines Flight 435 Apr 23 May 11 May 18 May 30 May 31 Jun 3 Jun 10 Jun 20 Jul 11 Jul 22 Jul 23 Jul 23 Jul 31 Aug 13 Aug 18 Aug 28 Sep 8 Sep 11 Sep 27 Texas International Airlines Flight 655 Sep 30 Oct 13 Nov 2 Nov 3 Nov 3 Nov 21 US Navy C-117D Sólheimasandur Crash Nov 23 Italian Air Force C-47 Argo 16 crash Nov 25 Dec 16 Dec 17 Dec 17 Pan Am Fl. 110, Lufthansa Fl. 303 hijacking Dec 22 Royal Air Maroc Caravelle crash | |
| |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|