September 2011 was marked by a widespread tragedy - a whole hockey team crashed in a plane crash. Immediately after taking off from a height of about 5-10 meters, the plane crashed down, leaving, it seemed, not the slightest chance of survival to anyone on board that ill-fated flight. But a truly miracle happened, among 45 people there was a lucky - flight engineer Alexander Sizov. He was incredibly able to survive after the crash of the liner.
Interrupted flight
The famous hockey team Lokomotiv September 7 went to Minsk in order to play the match, which eventually did not take place. Takeoff took place under normal weather conditions, and, it seemed, nothing portended trouble. The departure was supposed to take place the day before, but it was postponed in connection with the International Political Forum. The plane tried to take off the ground already outside the runway. As the surveillance cameras showed, it was noticeable that for some reason the liner lacked traction, and it turned out to be out of line. The crew took a desperate step, namely, an attempt to take off not from the strip, but from the ground. Having torn off the ground, the plane only managed to rise into the air to a small height, but at high speed crashed into the mast of the lighthouse, and then, flying a little more, crashed down.
The only survivor is Alexander Sizov
At first, the chance to survive was given to two - hockey player Alexander Galimov and one man from the crew. It was a flight engineer Alexander Sizov. But, unfortunately, Galimov died in the hospital after some time, but Sizov was more fortunate. He underwent a rather long rehabilitation course and spent more than 1, 5 months at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Medicine. He was diagnosed with multiple rib fractures, an open craniocerebral trauma, accompanied by brain damage, a hip fracture and body burns.
He was hospitalized in an extremely serious condition, but doctors gave optimistic forecasts. Over time, a positive trend began to be observed in his condition. Alexander Sizov underwent surgery, including plastic surgery for a skin transplant. After discharge, he admitted that, despite the incident, he wishes to return to professional activity.
Sizov's memories of the last minutes before the disaster in his first interview
Operational engineer Alexander Sizov, who survived a terrible plane crash, gave his first interview while he was in rehab in a hospital. He told reporters about the last minutes before the plane crash. He remembered everything that happened then on the plane, and it was psychologically difficult for him to recall the pictures of this tragedy that shook all of Russia.
As he said, even before takeoff, it was clear that an emergency situation had occurred on board and something had gone wrong. For a long time the plane could not take off from the runway, and then he realized that they were already outside the strip and take off from the ground. Then the plane began to tumble to one side, and then a terrible realization came that they were about to crash.
Plane crash
At that moment, when the plane fell to the ground, Alexander Sizov was not fastened. He felt a strong blow with something heavy to the right side of his body. Then Sizov felt that he was in the water, because during the crash, one part of the plane, namely the cabin, fell into the water, and the tail part was on the river bank. The first minutes after the crash seemed to be erased from memory. Then the police told him how he was trying to get his colleague out of the fire - hence the burns he subsequently received.
About miraculous salvation
That day, he was in the passenger seat in the last right lane, so he was in the rear of the ship. He did not fasten his seat belts, and perhaps this saved his life. During the fall of the liner, Sizova was thrown into the emergency exit. Thanks to this, he was able to get out of the burning debris in time. He woke up already in the water, which was glowing from the burning kerosene. He speaks of his salvation only as a miracle, because he knows no one else about the scale of the tragedy from which he managed to get out alive. There was practically nothing left of the plane; after the crash, the Yak-42 looked like a piece of twisted iron. With such damage to an airplane crashing from a height, surviving is truly a gift from above. For his life, he had to fight in the hospital - he went there in serious condition, with many injuries, but, as he says, the love and support of his family helped him recover from the blow.
Opinion Sizova
According to him, the condition of the aircraft before departure corresponded to all the required standards - he personally also took part in the inspection of the aircraft. Moreover, he denies one of the versions that the flight was carried out in a hurry due to the fact that at that time the airport was heavily congested. According to Alexander Sizov, the crash did not happen due to malfunctions in the aircraft, and preparation for the flight was carried out as usual. There were absolutely no complaints about the state of aviation equipment and preparation for flight, as he told the press, which excludes the reason, which is a malfunction of the main systems and mechanisms. He also denies one of the existing versions about the incorrect placement of baggage, that everything was done according to the rules.
Investigation version
The official version was in the human factor, namely, inadvertently pressing the brakes during the acceleration of the aircraft. The speed of the aircraft in the take-off stage was lower than what it should be. This state of emergency is associated with the fact that the flight crew did not have sufficient qualifications to operate this vessel, and also did not have the required number of raids during training and retraining. The admission to the management of the vessel, according to the official representative of the Investigative Committee, was issued illegally. At the trial, decryptions of the radio conversations were announced, in which the phrase: “What are you doing?” Was heard, and it also became clear that the parking lot on which the Yak-42 was supposed to be then was occupied by another aircraft.
Life after the crash
Alexander Sizov after the disaster today, having physically recovered from the accident, continues to work in his profession - he, as before, is engaged in aviation. At that time, in 2011, he was 52 years old, and he survived his rebirth. He recovered for a long time after the tragedy, and he is not able to completely psychologically cope with it even after a while. He does not like to remember that terrible day and tries to avoid talking about it. According to him, even after several years, it is impossible to fully recover from the tragedy.
Alexander Sizov has now remained faithful to his profession, with one exception - now he does not want to fly into the air. Now he works as an aviation mechanic at the Yakovlev Experimental Design Bureau. He does not intend to give up his work, to which he devoted his life. With his wife Svetlana Konstantinovna and son Anton, he lives in the suburbs in Zhukovsky and does not like to let members of the press into his life. He basically does not communicate with reporters and does not like to give interviews on this topic.