Alexey Kochemasov, better known as “Pilot Lech,” is a cult personality on the Internet. Once upon a time, serious discussions with hundreds of comments unfolded under his LiveJournal posts. However, first of all, Alexey PIC (aircraft commander) at Pobeda Airlines. He rarely appears on LiveJournal, but actively blogs on Instagram. Lenta.ru asked him the most unexpected questions about aviation that passengers sometimes ask.

Can a pilot fall asleep while flying an airplane?

All are living people, including pilots, so it’s possible to fall asleep. That's why there are always two people in the cabin - to control each other.

How does autopilot work, does the pilot really need to do anything when it's on?

The autopilot is a rather complex thing, and, of course, it can fly the plane and even lands the plane itself, but the pilot programs it and constantly makes adjustments to it.

Does the pilot-in-command have the right to allow a passenger to enter the cockpit during a flight?

No, passengers are not allowed into the cabin. This is strictly prohibited. It’s probably possible to let passengers into the cockpit after the plane has landed, but I don’t practice this.

How do pilots go to the toilet, do they have to take turns?

Pilots take turns going to the toilet. Moreover, when one of them leaves the cockpit, the flight attendant always comes in and waits there for the absent pilot to return. This is done in order to avoid an emergency situation. For example, one pilot left, but the second one stayed. The door closed, and the one who remained died! And what to do next?

Where does pilots' baggage go? Is it allowed to take it into the salon?

If we fly on a business trip and take a large suitcase with us, then our things fly along with the rest of the passengers’ luggage, they are simply loaded last. And so, just a small bag flying in the cockpit, of course.

Is the screening of pilots any different from the screening of passengers?

Pilots are screened in much the same way as passengers. Frame, pass, luggage clearance.

Can pilots quietly smuggle cheeses or other delicacies that are subject to a food embargo into Russia?

Products? Of course they can. But again, if we arrived from abroad and customs considers that we were carrying a prohibited product, then it will be confiscated from us, with the expected consequences (a fine, for example).

What do pilots eat on a flight?

For the commander and co-pilot, different meals of approximately the same nutritional value are loaded on board. You need a different diet so that if something happens you don’t get food poisoning.

How do pilots land planes at night or in fog when nothing can be seen?

If the weather conditions are very bad, the landing is performed automatically.

Will the passenger be able to land the plane?

A passenger will be able to land the plane if he is a pilot and works on approximately the same type of aircraft. If this is, say, a sports aviation pilot, then his chances are very slim. The flight attendant won't even land the plane. For co-pilots, flying is their job, and not all of them land on their own. What can we say about a person from the outside?

I once specially organized a competition among flight attendants of all airlines. The girl who won was the only one who arrived three hours before the competition and we trained with her. So, with half-hearted grief, she managed to press the right buttons. The whole trick is that the one who will tell you what to do from the ground knows what to say, but it’s impossible to check whether the flight attendant pressed the right button! And they press it incorrectly exactly every other time, although they pronounce everything correctly. They're poking in the wrong place.

As always, I explain in simple terms why none of the above-mentioned comrades will land a real plane.

All experiments were carried out on modern simulators, on which current pilots undergo training to practice actions in emergency situations that may arise in a real flight (or undergo training during retraining or initial training for this type of aircraft).

Modern simulators really imitate a real flight as much as possible (feelings of flight, sounds, some loads, views outside the window and even smells. Not to mention the reality of the cockpit, which is an absolute copy, with full functionality). For a person who has entered such a simulator for the first time, it is difficult to distinguish the real one. flight, from a simulated one - impossible!

The situation that plays out in such experiments is the same.

First episode:

Somewhere, in the endless sky, a passenger airliner is flying. Suddenly, passengers hear the somewhat excited voice of a sweet stewardess: “Dear ladies and gentlemen, we have a small problem. Nothing dangerous, just one of the pilots’ health has deteriorated, is there a doctor and a pilot among you?”

The doctor, as a rule, is there, but with the pilot... How lucky.

At this time, a young man was sitting by the window, who is fanatically interested in a computer simulator of exactly the same model of aircraft that he is currently flying. He sits and enjoys the entire flight because he knows and understands what every sound, every moment of the flight means and knows exactly what will happen in the next second. And after several minutes of silence in the cabin, he realizes that there is no pilot on board!

The hero stands up and says that he is ready to save the world!

The young man follows the conductor and, finding himself alone in the kitchen with the pale conductors, learns that it turns out that not only one pilot became ill, but all died! The plane flies on autopilot and the fate of all people is now only in his “skillful hands” and in general everything now depends only on him!

This is a standard scenario of the situation, there are no others, or with minor variations.

So what? An idiot's dream has come true, the hero finds himself in the cockpit of a real airliner, flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters, full of living, human souls...

This is where the fun begins.

So, the second episode:

Man is a living being, which means he is subject to emotions and this is his weakest side. This soulless computer doesn’t care whether it’s cold or hot, dark or light, whether someone is hurt or not. A person will react to any external stimulus, voluntarily or involuntarily. There are certainly “James Bonds” in life, but in order to become such, these people spent decades constantly in the conditions in which they suddenly happened to find themselves.

When an experiment is carried out on a simulator, the subject absolutely knows and understands that regardless of the result, he will still remain alive and unharmed. This is a powerful psychological stimulant that allows the test subject to concentrate as much as possible on his actions, to be extremely attentive and diligent.

It’s a completely different matter when a person finds himself in a real, deadly situation.

Finding himself in a real cockpit of a real flying airplane, any “James Bond” will become confused and lose most of his “superhuman” abilities. (No options, just believe it!)

A connection is established with the earth, it becomes clear who is driving and they begin to lead from the earth, what needs to be done in order to still save the world and get the hero star. (and of course, save your wife! And this is the first thing.

The one who sits on the ground and gives commands is a master of his craft. And then he begins to say:
-Press the button there. Pressed? What do you see? Well done!
-Now turn this knob and set it to 245! Well done!
And so on, on, on.
The one who sits and tells you what to do knows it 100% But there is absolutely no way to check whether the one sitting in the cockpit pressed the right button! There is no doubt that a person will make a mistake in a stressful situation.....

An airplane is a most complex technical device. In order to fly an airplane, people study for YEARS! They fly constantly. Entire institutes are developing procedures and technologies that will help eliminate erroneous actions by pilots in the cockpit. Schemes of interaction between crew members of cross-mutual control have been invented, allowing pilots to avoid stress and maintain performance in any flight conditions. But! Pilots still make mistakes (professional pilots who have been in the skies for years!), press the wrong buttons, lose control of each other, in a word, “mess up”... The consequences are known.

Look how beautifully the masters play billiards. Watch 100,000 times how to properly strike to pocket a ball, and then go, pick up a cue and try to pocket. Will it work?

In order to be able to land a plane, even with an automatic machine, it is not enough to know what to press and when. Hundreds of hours of real flights are needed in order to be psychologically prepared, to be calm and ready for any changes in modes that may arise during the automatic approach (and they will arise - don’t go to grandma!) Therefore, a simulator is one thing and a real aircraft is quite another. (in which “skillful seamer”). Think about it.

The other day I watched the movie "Turbulence". In the film, after a shootout on a flight carrying prisoners, a flight attendant had to outwit a serial killer and land the plane herself. Have there been cases where pilots became incapacitated and the plane was grounded by flight attendants or passengers?

Having some experience can be helpful, but not required. But, nevertheless, it is quite possible for someone other than the pilot to land the plane. For example,

In July 1985, a passenger who had flown an airplane once before but was not certified was able to land a Cessna plane safely in Lansing, Michigan, after the pilot suffered a heart attack and died mid-flight.

In February 2002, a woman, after just 48 hours of flight training, took the controls of a twin-engine Cessna plane on a flight over Cape Cod after the pilot became incapacitated as a result of an insulin reaction. Unable to contact anyone on the ground, she made a safe emergency landing of the plane close to the runway without harming anyone on board.

In 2009, a Florida man with 130 hours of experience flying single-engine aircraft took control of the twin-engine turboprop after the pilot died early in the flight. The “rescueman,” whose wife and daughter were also on board, said later that he had no idea how to fly a large passenger plane according to instructions from the control center, but still landed the plane successfully and safely.

Last April, after her husband collapsed on a Cessna flight in Wisconsin, 80-year-old Helen Collins, who had not touched the controls for decades, was able to contact air traffic controllers and use him to make an emergency landing of the plane. without serious injury.

You ask me, what about large passenger planes?

Here are some examples:

In November 2008, the co-pilot of an Air Canada Boeing 767 was restrained, sedated and forcibly removed from the cockpit due to a mental disorder. There were no other pilots on board. In this regard, to assist in an emergency landing in Shannon, Ireland, a flight attendant with piloting experience was placed in the co-pilot's seat.

In June 2010, a flight attendant with only 300 hours of experience flying a Cessna aircraft sat in the seat of the ailing first pilot of an American Airlines Boeing 767 as it landed in Chicago.

In November 2012, a Lufthansa Boeing 747, en route from New York to Frankfurt, made an unscheduled stop in Dublin after the first pilot suffered a severe migraine. News reports attributed the heroic act to one of the passengers who helped land the plane. The Irish Independent described the event as a "miracle" in its articles. However, I would like to point out that the magical passenger helping to land the Boeing 767 was just an accident.

It is important to note that all of the suddenly appearing pilots had some experience in flying the aircraft, and in the cases of large passenger aircraft, they were not the only ones responsible for the successful landing of the aircraft. So, the question of whether an inexperienced passenger can land a plane without the help of another pilot remains open. Perhaps it can.

In one of the 2007 episodes of the popular science program “MythBusters,” the presenters tested the likelihood of landing a passenger airliner using a NASA simulator. In the first test they did everything themselves, in the second they followed the instructions of a licensed pilot over the radio. Let's leave the details aside, but I want to note that both attempts failed, but in the case when the TV presenters followed the instructions, they were able to land the plane without simulated loss of life.

A significant advantage when landing a passenger aircraft is that most large aircraft these days have an automatic landing capability, which operates through a combination of on-board electronics, runway lights and airport transmitters. The system is designed to assist pilots in the event of poor visibility and can only be used in certain wind conditions. If these conditions are present, the system operates with fairly high accuracy up to two meters vertically and 13 feet (about 4 meters) laterally.

The probability of failure during an automatic landing is estimated at one in 2 billion, but the same was said about the probability of the financial crisis in 2008. Let's remember that in 2009, a Boeing 737 of Turkish Airlines crashed near Amsterdam at Schiphol airport, which caused the death of nine people, and 120 were injured, precisely during the automatic landing. Due to a malfunction of the altimeter, the pilot made fatal errors. But don't panic. The likelihood that most passenger aircraft will be able to land successfully with minimal involvement of passengers or remaining crew, provided the weather is suitable, is quite high.

Conventional airplanes in most cases are not equipped with automatic landing systems, but despite this, accidents due to pilot incapacity are quite rare. According to 2010 reports in the United States, of the 472 aircraft crashes, only seven involved pilot incapacitation, and only two involved someone other than the pilot on board. In other words, the likelihood that you will find yourself in a similar situation is very low, but if you do, the chance that everything will be resolved well is quite high.

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It’s unlikely that anyone dreams of being on a plane flying with failed engines, caught in a storm or strong crosswind. But all this and much more periodically happens to aircraft, and then the pilots have to use all their skill and a lot of physical strength to level the plane, bring it to the airfield and land it successfully, without causing casualties. Next, we will talk about the 10 most incredible airplane landings.

1. Flying over the volcano (1982)

Handing the passenger a glass of drink, the flight attendant quietly looked out the window and made sure that the pilots were right. The plane's engines glowed like strobe lights. And soon suffocating smoke, smelling of sulfur, began to spread throughout the cabin. There were 15 crew members and 248 passengers on board the Boeing 747, and none of them noticed that the plane flew through a cloud of volcanic ash suddenly thrown up by the awakening Indonesian volcano Galunggung. Tiny abrasive ash particles damaged the aircraft's skin and clogged its engines.
The plane flying from London to Auckland was at risk of not making it. A huge liner with its engines turned off was gliding over the ocean in the night, and the mountains of the southern coast of the island of Java rose directly in its course. It was necessary to quickly choose: to land the plane on the water or to risk reaching Jakarta airport, but for this it was necessary to overcome the approaching peaks. While the commander and the Indonesian controller calculated the distance and aerodynamic capabilities of the aircraft, the flight engineer and co-pilot continued to try to start the engines. They were lucky - the fourth engine hesitated, spitting out pumice, and still started working! Using the same method, we managed to revive two more engines. With such thrust it was already possible to reach the airfield, however, when the plane began to gradually descend for landing, the pilots noticed that the windshield, scratched by sharp particles, became frosted. In addition, Jakarta airport did not have an automatic landing gear.
In the end, the British pilots were able to land the plane safely, looking at the area through a couple of tiny transparent areas remaining on the windshield. None of the people were injured in this mess.

2. Miracle on the Hudson (2009)

On January 15, 2009, an Airbus A-320 with 150 passengers on board took off from La Guardia Airport in the direction of New York - Seattle. Just a minute and a half into the flight, he collided with a flock of birds, after which both engines of the airliner instantly stalled. At this moment the plane had already risen to 970 meters. It was no longer possible to go back, since the speed and altitude gained would not be enough, which would be enough for 1.5 minutes of gliding.
The first pilot made an instant decision to head for the Hudson River, which at this point is very wide and has a fairly straight channel. It was important to reach the water surface and level the plane. As a result, the airbus plopped into the icy water and began to plan among the ice floes. Almost all the people survived, and only the flight attendant and 5 poorly seated passengers were injured. They should be grateful to former military pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who once piloted the Phantom.

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3. Heavenly Convertible (1988)

In 1988, an old Boeing made a local flight in Hawaii from Hilo to Honolulu. Due to a loose door, part of the hull was destroyed (the wind “licked” 35 sq. m of cladding). Explosive decompression occurred at an altitude of 7300 m at a speed of 500 km/h. Instantly, 90 lightly dressed passengers were hit by a wind 3 times faster than a hurricane, and even icy (-45 degrees). Although the pilots quickly reduced their speed to 380 km/h and their altitude, in a short time 65 people managed to get frostbite and receive various injuries. And after 12 minutes, with a deviation from the schedule of only 1 minute, the heavenly convertible landed in Honolulu. But there were no casualties here - the unfortunate flight attendant was thrown overboard at the moment of the destruction of the fuselage.

4. Race with Death (1988)

On December 31, 1988, the Tu-134 crew was in such a hurry to celebrate the New Year that they began to descend on too steep a glide path, although the instruments screamed that the speed was too high and the ground was approaching too quickly. The pilots, disregarding all instructions, lowered the landing gear at a speed of 460 km/h, and it was pointless to lower the flaps at such a speed, since they would simply be blown off by the air flow. At the moment of touching the ground, the speed was 415 km/h (permissible maximum 330 km/h). Thus, a landing speed record was set for a civil aviation airliner.
For an aircraft landing at such a speed, the length of the runway was not enough and, despite all the efforts of the dashing crew, the plane continued on, stopping 1.5 meters from the descent onto the ground on the safety strip. The passengers were surprisingly not injured, but the pilots had to answer to the fullest extent of the law.

5. Plane without a nose (2017)

The plane, heading from Istanbul to Ercan, Cyprus, encountered strong winds and hail. At a 1.5-kilometer altitude, his nose and cockpit glass were blown off. As a result, the pilots were completely unable to look ahead, and at the airport everyone was waiting in despair for the inevitable. The first pilot, Ukrainian pilot Akopov, decided to return. When landing, he tilted the side slightly so that he could see the strip through the side window. The airport dispatchers and other members of the aircraft crew also worked efficiently, and as a result, the ship with 121 passengers and 6 crew members landed successfully.

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6. Taiga miracle (2010)

In September 2010, a TU-154B plane en route from Yakutia to Moscow landed in the Siberian wilderness. Having flown for 3.5 hours after takeoff, the plane suddenly lost power, so the fuel pumps and on-board instruments froze, and the ability to control the wing elements was lost. In the fuselage there was a supply tank with 3.3 tons of operational kerosene reserve, but this would only be enough for half an hour of flight. The pilots lowered the plane to 3,000 meters to visually search for a suitable landing site. They checked horizontality using a glass of water. They were lucky to notice the short (1350 m) concrete runway at Izhma airport, and for landing the Tu-154B required 2 times longer. Moreover, it was abandoned back in 2003, used only for landing helicopters. The matter was complicated by the fact that the pilots could not release the flaps, so the landing speed was 100 km/h higher than the calculated speed.
The pilots managed to land the car on “3 points”, but then the poorly controlled plane rolled into a low spruce forest, located 160 m beyond the end of the concrete strip. Fortunately, none of the passengers or crew were injured. The plane was immediately repaired on its own, and then it was able to fly to Samara for a detailed inspection.

7. Landing without a commander (1990)

On June 10, 1990, a British Airways plane took off from Birmingham to Malaga. After 13 minutes of flight, his poorly installed windshield fell out, as a result of which the air escaping from the plane picked up the commander and threw him half out through the resulting hole. The pilot's back was pressed against the fuselage outside the cockpit, while his legs were stuck between the control panel and the steering wheel. The cockpit door was also torn off, the debris of which fell on the navigation and radio panels.
The flight attendant in the cockpit grabbed onto the commander, preventing him from flying out completely, and the co-pilot began an emergency descent and gave a distress signal. The co-pilot managed to land the emergency airliner in Southampton. All passengers and crew survived, only the commander and flight attendant were injured. As for the commander, he was found to have several fractures, bruises and frostbite. The flight attendant suffered frostbite in his left eye, face and dislocated his shoulder.

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8. Incident in Leningrad (1963)

The plane, flying from Tallinn to Moscow, reported to the ground that after takeoff the nose landing gear was stuck in the half-retracted position. There was a belly landing to be made, and the nearest airport where such a trick could be performed was the airport in Pulkovo, where the plane was sent. Having approached the airport, the plane began to circle above it, running out of fuel, and to speed up the process, it did this at an altitude of 500 m. At the same time, the crew tried in every possible way to unlock the landing gear with a metal pole. Carried away by this task, the crew did not notice how the left engine stopped due to lack of fuel.
The first and second pilots rushed to the controls, instantly received permission to fly over the city and headed straight for the runway. Then the second engine also froze, and there was not even enough altitude to leave the city. Then the crew commander made the only possible decision - to land the emergency board on the water surface of the Neva. The plane flew over the Liteiny Bridge at an altitude of 90 m, over the Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge it had already dropped to 30 meters, just a few meters passed over the Alexander Nevsky Bridge under construction and, almost hitting the tugboat, plopped into the water. The splashdown was soft - all passengers and crew members were alive.

9. Spectacular Airbus landing in stormy weather (2017)

Strong winds often blow at the airport in Dusseldorf, Germany. Recently, the giant Airbus A380, owned by Emirates, had to land in such conditions. The approach to the ground itself in such conditions still goes more or less smoothly, but after the landing gear touches the landing strip, problems immediately begin. So this landing of the Airbus became unusual and difficult. To reduce the impact of strong side wind gusts, pilots are forced to approach the landing at an angle. When the pilot began to level the plane, a sudden strong gust of side wind began to strongly swing the colossus from side to side. So the pilot levels the ship, and it flaps its wings - a fascinating sight. Finally, the pilot managed to cope with the unruly giant and level his position with wind gusts reaching 22 m/s.

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10. Faulty Chassis (2016)

In Kazakhstan, at the international airport of the country's capital Astana, a Foker-100 aircraft without front landing gear was able to safely make an emergency landing. However, none of the passengers and crew members totaling 121 people were injured. The cause of the emergency was a malfunction in the front landing gear mechanism. The aircraft commander had to land it without this element, which was quite important during landing. The front strut did not fully come out of the hatch, so when landing it was impossible to rely on it at all. Eyewitnesses excitedly told how the plane, after touching the ground, pecked at the ground and then scraped along the concrete of the runway for hundreds of meters. The intense friction caused sparks and black smoke to come out of it. Fortunately, the plane did not catch fire. Surprisingly, after this landing, damage to the aircraft's body was minimal.

Exactly 55 years ago, on August 21, 1963, a passenger plane flying from Tallinn to Moscow made an emergency landing on the Neva. Tu-124 landed on the water near the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. This is the only case in Russian aviation when no one died when landing a passenger plane on water.

How did the Tu-124 crew manage to avoid casualties, why is this incident compared to the “Miracle on the Hudson” in the USA, and what is the difficulty of landing the plane on water? "Paper" I spoke with aviation journalist Andrei Menshenin.

- Is the Tu-124 landing on the Neva a unique event in the history of aviation?

In the history of Russian aviation, this is the only case of successful splashdown (landing on water - approx. "Papers") with passengers on board when no one was killed. There are also very few such cases in world history; the most famous was in 2009 in New York, when a plane landed on the water of the Hudson River. The film “Miracle on the Hudson” was made about this. The vast majority of splashdown attempts end unsuccessfully - usually with casualties.

- In many media publications, the history of the Tu-124 is compared with the “Miracle on the Hudson”. How similar are these two cases really?

Both cases fit the description of “a jet with passengers on board near the center of a densely populated city is forced to land on a river.” But, of course, details matter. In the New York case, the cause of the engine failure was obvious: the plane crashed into a flock of birds. The role of the crew is clear: they carried out the flight according to the procedure, encountered an emergency situation, carried out a set of procedures to solve it, and went beyond this complex with a successful result.

In the case of the Tu-124, it is still not completely clear what happened. We were carrying out the flight according to standard instructions, but encountered an emergency situation (the front landing gear jammed - approx. "Papers"), then something happened, and the crew found themselves in a plane without engines over a densely populated city.

Splashdown of TU-124 on the Neva. Photo: Yuri Tuysk

- Is it even possible to land a plane with a jammed landing gear?

Landing gear failure is not a clear prerequisite for a disaster, although it increases its likelihood. In modern civil aviation, most forced landings with the landing gear retracted end without casualties. The Tu-124 crew had many chances to complete the flight safely.

- Why did they have to land on the water?

There are two factors to note here. If they had not coincided, the plane would have landed on Shosseynaya (the old name of Pulkovo Airport - approx. "Papers"), albeit with a jammed chassis. Firstly, the plane was running out of fuel (to reduce the likelihood of a possible fire during landing - approx. "Papers") at low altitude - 500 m. The lower the altitude, the more fuel the aircraft consumes and the less time it takes to use it up.

Secondly, the plane was left without fuel. Why it ended is not entirely clear. According to one version, the sensors in the Tu-124 were acting up, showing fuel that actually wasn’t there. According to another, the pilots simply missed the moment when the fuel ran out, trying to correct the jammed landing gear. Another version: allegedly, in certain situations, a certain air funnel appears in the Tu-124 fuel system, which prevents fuel from entering the engine. This, of course, sounds doubtful to me. On the other hand, the Tu-124 could have some design flaws, since that was the very dawn of jet aviation. In modern aircraft, all these experiences are taken into account: the wing is divided inside into compartments and you can pump fuel from any of them as you need.

If we exclude at least one of these factors, the plane could fly to the airport. Having a greater altitude reserve - for example, several kilometers - he could glide without engines to Shosseynaya. There are many more such successful cases in the history of aviation than cases of successful splashdown. But 500 m is too little headroom. They only had enough to fly to the Neva.

Reconstruction of Tu-124 landing

- Why is it so difficult to land a plane on water?

At high speeds, the elastic properties of water are close to those of concrete. But the fact is that, unlike the prepared airfield landing strip, the water surface is uneven. Because of the waves, the structure of the aircraft simply collapses. A land aircraft is not designed for such loads.

How did the pilots manage to land the plane without casualties?

Each case of successful splashdown is considered the result of great luck. There were several factors in this case. Firstly, the landing was carried out by the co-pilot (Vasily Chechenev - approx. "Papers"), who had experience flying seaplanes. He mastered the splashdown technique. This was one of the luck factors.

The second factor was that, apparently, there were practically no waves on the Neva. Third: when the plane was in the water, a tugboat passed by, which immediately pulled it ashore. Theoretically, it would be possible to get out of the plane, but in this case there would probably be panic and people would not know what to do.

- How did the landing take place? Did the plane crash?

No. For each aircraft there is an operating manual, where in the section on emergency situations it is written what speed and pitch (angular movement relative to the main transverse axis of inertia - approx. "Papers") must be maintained for optimal reduction.

What is the real merit of the crew: when they already found themselves in this stalemate, they managed to make a decision in a matter of seconds. These seconds are very important. The pilots were able to assess the situation and agree on what to do.

If we recall the film adaptation of “Miracle on the Hudson,” the main complaint against Sully (pilot Chesley Sullenberger - approx. "Papers") was that he would have had enough time to reach the airfield if he had started the maneuver as soon as the engines failed. But while the crew was making a decision, the seconds were ticking away. In the end, they no longer had a choice but to sit on the river.

Several publications about the landing of the Tu-124 on the Neva mention that the plane, according to eyewitnesses, flew straight to St. Isaac's Cathedral. If he had not boarded the Neva, what could have been the consequences?

The plane could have fallen to the ground, onto residential buildings. One can guess what kind of disaster there would be, with how many victims. Suffice it to recall, for example, the disaster in Irkutsk in 1997 (a plane fell on residential buildings, killing 72 people - approx. "Papers").

The crew of TU-124. Far right is co-pilot Vasily Chechenev, next to him is airship commander Viktor Mostovoy

- After this disaster, did they continue to produce the Tu-124?

Yes, they flew a lot. Now, of course, it is not exploited.

- Are flights over St. Petersburg allowed now?

In St. Petersburg there are restricted flight zones and there are no-fly zones. Moreover, each of them is open to certain categories of aircraft. But if, for example, you need to fly from Pulkovo to the Peter and Paul Fortress, then the plane will fly not over the city, but over the Gulf of Finland.

In the city center - in the no-fly zone - only state aviation and air ambulances, that is, police, rescuers and the president, can fly. For the most part, these are, of course, helicopters. Passenger airliners do not fly into the center at all. If the plane is landing on the second circle, then the trajectory will fly around the entire city - along the Ring Road and the WHSD.

There are special brands of aircraft designed to land on water. But history knows many examples when pilots of conventional aircraft had to land not at an airfield, but on a water surface. The Neva, Volga, Hudson and even the Pacific Ocean acted as a landing strip.

Unfortunately, emergency situations occur in aviation when equipment fails for one reason or another. Today we will talk about unique cases when ordinary passenger aircraft, and not seaplanes, were able to land safely on the water. Most of them were doomed to death due to engine failure or other reasons. But thanks to the courage and professionalism of the pilots, they managed to land on water and, in many cases, avoid casualties.

Landing of Il-12 on the Volga

This story of a plane splashing down with 23 passengers on board occurred on April 30, 1953. The passenger plane was operating a Moscow-Novosibirsk flight with a landing at Kazan airport. Just before approaching the intermediate landing, both engines of the plane failed. As it turned out later, this emergency situation arose due to a meeting with a flock of ducks that got into the engine. The plane began to quickly lose altitude, and in the difficult conditions the crew decided to land the plane on the water. An emergency landing was made in the area of ​​the Kazan river port. Since this happened quite far from the coast (the depth of the landing site was about 18 meters), the plane began to fill with water and slowly sink. The rescue operation was complicated by the fact that the landing took place at 21.37 local time and it was already dark. All passengers and crew members managed to escape from the sinking plane. Local residents on boats brought all the victims to shore, except for one passenger, who, unfortunately, drowned, becoming the only victim of this plane crash.

Boeing 377 landing in the Pacific Ocean

The second successful landing of an aircraft on water occurred on October 15, 1956. There were 24 passengers and 7 crew members on board the ship, which was traveling from Honolulu to San Francisco. After two out of four engines failed, the commander decided to land the plane on the water. As a result of the successful landing, none of the passengers were injured, and they were picked up by Coast Guard rescuers.

Tu-124 landing on the Neva

This incident occurred on August 21, 1963 in the sky over Leningrad. The aircraft was flying on the route Tallinn - Moscow. There were 52 people on board: 45 passengers and 7 crew members. Some time after takeoff from Tallinn airport, the crew discovered that the landing gear had jammed. After negotiations with dispatchers, it was decided to land the plane at the nearest airport, which turned out to be Pulkovo in Leningrad. Due to problems with the landing gear, it became immediately clear that the landing would be an emergency and in order to avoid fire and explosion, it was necessary to run out of fuel. After an hour of circling over Leningrad, when there was little fuel left, problems arose with the engine. One after another, both engines failed, and the only chance to save the crew and the plane was to land on the water surface of the Neva. If the crew had not included co-pilot Vasily Grigorievich Chechenev, who had experience in landing aircraft on water, then it is unknown how it would have ended. In a matter of seconds, the captain handed over control of the plane to Chechenev, who, thanks to his experience in naval aviation, managed to balance the position of the plane for landing on the water. The plane splashed down safely on the Neva opposite the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, where rescuers and evacuation services were already waiting for it. All passengers and crew survived.

Landing of a Japanese airliner in the Pacific Ocean

This emergency landing occurred on November 22, 1968 near San Francisco. The Japan Airlines DC-8, carrying 96 passengers and 11 crew members, was flying from Tokyo to San Francisco. This time, the cause of the emergency landing was dense fog that shrouded the landing area. Due to poor visibility and instrument errors, which the ship's captain relied on, the crew landed on the water instead of the runway. Moreover, until the very end, the pilots thought that they were landing at the airport. Perhaps the lack of panic ensured the success of the entire operation. None of the passengers were injured.

Tu-134 landing on the Moscow Canal

This incident occurred on July 17, 1972, when the aircraft was being tested and making an experimental flight. As a result of the emergency, the aircraft's engines stopped. There were 5 crew members on board at the time. Thanks to the professionalism of the pilots, it was possible to land the aircraft on the Ikshinskoye Reservoir, one of the reservoirs of the Moscow canal system. No one was injured as a result of the incident.

Landing A 320-214 on the Hudson

The last landing of a large passenger airliner occurred not so long ago - on January 15, 2009. The aircraft with 150 passengers and 5 crew members on board was flying from New York to Seattle. Just 1.5 minutes after takeoff, the plane collided with a flock of birds, resulting in both engines stopping. By this point, the plane had already reached an altitude of 975 meters, so the pilots had time to plan. The crew managed to turn the plane around and make a successful landing on the water surface of the Hudson River opposite 48th Street in Manhattan. All passengers made it to the surface safely and were rescued. And although some of them were injured, the landing on the Hudson River can be called simply a miracle, since all 155 passengers survived.

In all the described cases, it was possible to avoid numerous casualties thanks to the skill of the crew. Unfortunately, all the planes never returned to the sky after such landings. As experts note, a favorable outcome of an emergency landing on water depends on several factors. The most important factors are the condition of the water surface (presence of waves or obstacles), the type of aircraft itself (large airliners are easier to land on water) and the skill of the crew. It is the last factor that is decisive.