In the days of the Soviet Union , the field of aircraft construction was widely developed, which criminal identities could not but take advantage of, as a result of which several cases of successful hijacking of aircraft in the USSR were recorded.
The beginning of the epic with attempts to hijack a plane
The first hijacking of an aircraft in the USSR took place on October 15, 1970. An-24 took off from the airfield of the border Batumi, taking on board 46 passengers. The first seats at the cockpit were occupied by an army captain in uniform with a teenager. Ten minutes later, they handed the stewardess an envelope: “Pass it on to the commander!”
While the flight attendant of flight 244, 19-year-old Nadezhda Kurchenko read a message instructing the crew to follow the specified route and disconnect, the man in uniform stood up and addressed the passengers: “Order of General Krylov,” the man said in a commanding voice, “Soviet power on board now is over! ” - and pointed to the clock, which showed 12:40.
So began a new disaster in the history of civil aviation of the USSR - the seizure of an aircraft. The first Soviet terrorists were Pranas Brazinskas with his son Algirdas.
Events developed rapidly. The stewardess rushed to the crew and shouted: "Attack!" Attackers rushed after her. "Do not get up!" - Algirdas warned the passengers and took out a grenade, “Or we’ll blow up everyone!” The girl tried to block their path, but Pranas removed the obstacle with two shots from the sawn-off shotgun.
Father and son broke into the cabin and began to shoot the crew. The commander of the bullet hit the spine. The flight mechanic was injured by the chest, and the navigator received a lung wound. Only the second pilot turned out to be unharmed. Later, the hijackers explained that they agreed to neutralize three pilots in advance, and leave one to control the aircraft.
Terrorists demanded to fly to Turkey and cut off radio communications, but the pilots managed to send a distress signal. The paralyzed commander ordered the co-pilot to fulfill the criminals' demand, saving the passengers of the flight. True, the pilots went on a trick and made an attempt to land at the Kobuleti Army Airfield, but the attackers saw through the maneuver. The aircraft headed for Turkish Trabzon. A few minutes later, the car crossed the border on a low-level flight.
Abroad will help us
Hardly landed, the Brasins surrendered to Turkish justice. Medical assistance was provided to the wounded pilots at the airport, and passengers were offered political asylum, but there were no volunteers. The plane was returned to the USSR. And the Turkish state refused to give out terrorists at all. The criminals were convicted on the spot and given Pranas Brazinskas eight years in prison, Algirdas two. After only two years, the elder Brazinskas fell under an amnesty, and together with his son they first got to Venezuela, and then to the United States. The terrorists changed their names in the American manner and chose Santa Monica as their place of residence, where they made a living by painting.
In a foreign land, the fugitives did not find happiness, and notoriety with interest. 32 years after the theft, the world press again spoke about them. The reason for the hype was the death of the elder Brazinskas. He was killed by his own son in the heat of a family scandal. Eight blows of dumbbells on the father’s head is enough guilt for the jury to put Algirdas behind bars for 16 years.
The fate of other participants in the ill-fated flight was different. Nadezhda Kurchenko was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Banner. After the overhaul on Uzbek airlines, the AN-24 continued to serve with a photograph of a brave stewardess on board.
Consequences and capture statistics
Have you tried to hijack an airplane? After all, the first hijacking did not bring the expected results. Yet it ended far from what the father and son expected. But, unfortunately, the Brazinskas example did not teach potential terrorists anything, but brought only bitter results. Just a few days later, another incident of hijacking of an aircraft in the USSR happened. The scenario of the terrorists repeated. Again, two with weapons and again the demand to fly to Turkey. The Soviet press kept silent about the relapse, taught by the bitter experience of publishing the details of the previous hijacking. Thus, regular hijackers from newspapers received step-by-step instructions on how to hijack a plane. Therefore, such articles were vetoed so as not to spawn newly-minted air terrorists.
Aeroflot was forced to pay special attention to flight safety. Airports equipped with metal detectors. A landing search was introduced, border flights were obliged to accompany “people in civilian clothes”, the crew armed. And the Criminal Code of the USSR was replenished with the article “Theft of an aircraft”.
How many hijackings were in the USSR? The sad statistics of Soviet and Russian passenger airlines cite the following data:
- capture attempts - 91;
- successful hijackings - 26;
- dead - 111 passengers and members of the flight crew;
- eliminated - 17 terrorists.
Double bass bomb
International Women's Day 1988 was overshadowed by the tragic event that occurred on board the Tu-154, which made the flight route Irkutsk - Kurgan - Leningrad. Ninel Ovechkina, the owner of the highest female title "Mother Heroine", under the guise of a tour, brought 10 of her children to the city on the Neva.
The participants of the ensemble “Seven Simeons”, known throughout the country, were preparing a festive “surprise” for their mother with many children and told about the hijacking only on board the aircraft. “Gifts” were hidden in cases and musical instruments. The preflight inspection was carried out fluently, as the fame of the eminent children dulled the vigilance of the airport workers. As a result, the terrorists had the opportunity to deliver on board 2 shotguns, about a hundred rounds and homemade bombs.
An attempt to hijack an aircraft in the USSR by the Ovechkin family failed. The airliner was planted at an army airfield and stormed. During the assault, five terrorists died. Mother and four sons, realizing the doom of the situation, decided to commit suicide. Mother ordered the eldest son to shoot her and other brothers. Which he did, finally releasing the last cartridge into himself. Among the dead were the flight attendant Tamara Zharkaya and 3 passengers. Fifteen passengers, two police officers and two Ovechkin brothers were wounded and injured.
I will move to London
The remaining members of the Ovechkin family who survived and put on trial gave evidence about the causes and course of the events of the failed seizure of the aircraft. Mother and her sons believed that they were underestimated in the Soviet Union. Being on tour in Japan, the ensemble “Seven Simeons” was a tremendous success, and this fact was the last straw that overflowed the patience of further stay at home. Upon returning from the tour, Ovechkina began to prepare an escape abroad. Mother fully approved of their moods.
Unhindered carrying weapons and explosives aboard the aircraft, the terrorists set to work. Since there were enough free seats, the Ovechkins determined the “base” in the tail of the cabin. They boasted to the stewardesses of their artistic photographs, which attracted staff. On approaching Vologda, two adult brothers, armed with sawn-off shotguns and ordering the rest of the passengers not to budge, passed through the flight attendant the requirements for the pilots to go to London with the threat of using explosives.
After 15 minutes, the pilots notified that there was only enough fuel for an hour and a half flight. The flight engineer went to the terrorists for negotiations and convinced the need to refuel the Tu-154 supposedly for landing in Finland. In fact, the plane was landed at the Veshchevo border airport, where the tragic finale of the epic with the hijacking of an airliner unfolded. By the way, it was in the cemetery of this village that the remains of the dead Ovechkins were buried. Only the old-timers can show the mounds of their graves. Here is such a sad ending to the history of people who want to change something in their lives. Unfortunately, they chose the wrong way and they could not go unpunished.
Films about hijacking an airplane of the USSR
Some hijackings of aircraft that occurred in the Soviet Union were even made into films:
- “Entrant” is a Soviet film. A film adaptation of the hijacking of an airplane in the USSR in 1970 was the death of the flight attendant Nadezhda Kurchenko during the capture of An-24 by Lithuanian terrorists. Director A. Mishurin (1973).
- “Hostages” is a Russian-Georgian film. A screen version of the hijacking of an aircraft in the USSR in 1983. Director Rezo Gigineishvili (2017).
- “Mom” is a Russian film with Nonna Mordyukova in the title role. A film adaptation of the capture of the aircraft by the Ovechkin family in 1988. Director Denis Evstigneev (1999).
In the film version “Mama” the names of the characters (Ovechkina - Yuryeva), the name of the ensemble (“Seven Simeonov” - “The Merry Family”), the number of children, the capture and assault scenes were changed. The directorial and scenario approach to the interpretation of events is far from reality. The audience did not accept the film about Ovechkin because of a distorted picture of the motives that pushed the family to a crime.
God help
The terrorists who captured Tu-134 in 1983 were blessed on the true path by the Tbilisi priest Teimuraz Chikhladze. Listening to the anti-Soviet sermons of the holy man, part of his elite and bohemian young parishioners rushed abroad with weapons in their hands.
Initially, the weapons and ammunition on board had to be delivered to Chikhladze himself, hiding under a robe. However, the plan had to be changed at the last minute, since Father Teimuraz received an invitation to travel abroad through his Orthodox channels. Noticing the hesitation of the priest, the hijackers refused his services in hijacking an airplane.
"Noble" meeting
A criminal group of seven young people formed:
- Joseph Tsereteli, 25 years old;
- Kaha Iverieli, 26 years old;
- Paata Iverieli, 30 years old;
- Gega Kobakhidze, 21 years old;
- David Mikaberidze, 25 years old;
- Tinatin Petviashvili, 19 years old;
- Grigory Tabidze, 32 years old.
Almost all the attackers turned out to be the offspring of influential and successful parents from the category of the so-called “golden” youth. Many were free to travel abroad on tour packages, and staying in the West was not difficult for them.
Nevertheless, they committed a crime driven by the desire to become famous throughout the world as “prisoners of conscience” and fighters against the communist regime.
Using the privileged position at the Georgia-Film film studio, the terrorists familiarized themselves with the instructional tape “Nabat” for official use about the methods of special services when hijacking an aircraft. As subsequent events showed, the group of hijackers in their actions was largely guided by the plot of the secret personnel.
Wedding procession
On the eve of the capture, Tinatin Petviashvili and German Kobakhidze became newlyweds. Among the guests of the wedding celebration was Anna Varsimashvili, who was supposed to go on duty at the international airport point on the ill-fated day. Enlisting a good acquaintance with her, the criminals sighed calmly. Now the problem of transporting weapons to the aircraft has been resolved.
The armament of the terrorists was 2 TT pistols, two Nagans and two training lemons (young people who did not serve in the army did not know such details and considered them military).
On November 18, 1983, hijackers, through their acquaintance at the airport, freely passed aboard an airliner without search. The newlyweds and the wedding procession did not arouse suspicion. It was obvious from all that the company was going on a wedding tour in Batumi. In addition to the terrorists, their friends Anna Meliva and Yevgenia Shalutashvili joined the group, who did not suspect what they were getting into.
The first victims of the theft of a plane in the USSR in 1983
From the moment of landing, all the plans of the criminals were mixed up. Passengers of the flight to Batumi, required to be operated on the Yak-40, were transplanted to the Tu-134.
The plane came off the runway at 15:43. The criminals had planned the beginning of the operation before entering Batumi. This corresponded to the closest place to the Turkish border. But due to bad weather and heavy wind, the pilots were ordered to return to an additional Tbilisi airfield, which the terrorists could not know.
At 16:13, the peak of capture began. Having captured the flight attendant and hiding behind her, part of the air pirates headed for the pilot's cabin. The rest of the hijackers began to search for "KGB agents." Arousing suspicion, two passengers were seriously injured, and one was killed on the spot.
Forcing the stewardess to force the pilots to open the entrance to the cockpit, the terrorists rushed to the pilots and ordered to turn the car to Turkey. Hearing the refusal, Tabidze began a shootout, killing the flight engineer and seriously injuring the inspector. The navigator, not noticed by the bandits, opened fire with a curtain and killed Tabidze. The seriously wounded Tsereteli and other surviving terrorists were forced to retreat into the cabin. During the departure, two more hijackers were injured. At this time, overcoming the pain of injury, the crew commander began to make steep turns, hoping to knock down the attackers. This led to a three-fold excess of loads on the plane of the airliner.
Using a break, the pilots sent an alarm message and deployed the aircraft to Tbilisi. Meanwhile, desperate hijackers staged a battle on board. Having shot one of the passengers for fear and even crippled their “accomplices”, they began to mock the stewardesses. At dusk, Tu-134 landed on the runway of a Tbilisi airport.
Tragedy denouement
On the ground, the airliner was immediately cordoned off by troops that arrived in time for the Nabat plan. Taking advantage of the turmoil, two stewardesses left the captured side through the luggage compartment, but one was overtaken by a bullet fired from a Mikaberidze pistol. In the opening opening of the hatch, he noticed that he was on his native land, and shot himself. The young soldier who was hiding nearby in an ambush lost their nerves from a nightmarish spectacle, he escaped from cover and rushed off the runway. The commandos, mistaking him for a terrorist, opened heavy fire and literally riddled the poor fellow. Several bursts went through the skin of the airliner, but by a lucky chance no one was hurt.
After exhausting unsuccessful negotiations, in which, in addition to the leadership, senior officials of the republic and the KGB, even the parents of the terrorists were called on, an order was given to storm the plane. The assault took place in eight minutes, without making a single sacrifice.
The consequences of an attempt to hijack an aircraft
The result of a failed capture was the death of two pilots and a stewardess, two passengers and two hijackers. 10 people were injured. Two pilots were awarded the title of Heroes, they were awarded high government awards.
After investigative actions that lasted more than 9 months, capital punishment was imposed on Chikhladze and the brothers Iverieli and Kobakhidze. Joseph Tsereteli did not live up to the verdict; he was found dead in a pre-trial detention center. The circumstances of the death remained unclear. Petviashvili was given 14 years in prison. After the refusal of pardon on October 3, 1984, unsuccessful terrorists were shot.
As already noted, in the Soviet Union 91 attempts were made to hijack planes, of which only 26 were successful, all thanks to the courage and rejection of flight attendants and pilots. Despite the rampant terrorists, at that time there were people who were ready to give their own lives for others, and this contributed to a significant reduction in successful hijackings of aircraft in the USSR.