How the Soviet MiG flew to Europe without a pilot and how it all ended

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

1989 saw one of the most unusual incidents in the world of aviation. In the skies over Belgium, a MiG-23M fighter belonging to the Soviet Air Force crashed and crashed down. The incident killed a local 19-year-old boy sitting peacefully on the veranda of his own farm. But the whole incident of the situation was that the plane flew to Europe without a pilot, having covered almost a thousand kilometers on its own. The police officers who arrived at the scene were racking their brains for a long time over what an unmanned plane with red stars on its wings was doing on Belgian territory.

First class pilot and training missions

In the USSR, careless military pilots were sent to serve in some remote region of a large country. But the leaders of combat and political training often served abroad. First-class pilot Nikolai Skuridin served in Poland, piloting a third generation MiG-23 fighter. On this technically complex and rather capricious aircraft, he flew over six hundred hours. Such a milestone is considered a fairly serious experience for a multi-role fighter pilot.

On July 4, 1989, Skuridin returned from a planned vacation to the Soviet airbase near the Polish city of Kolobrzeg and once again sat at the helm of the MIG-23. On that day, the pilot performed unremarkable training take-offs. After the first control landing, Skuridin again lifted his car into the air. And, as the colonel later recalled, everything went smoothly until the plane gained altitude.

Problems in the sky and ejection

A short time after takeoff, Skuridin recorded an unexpectedly sharp drop in the thrust of the aircraft engine and heard a strange pop. The fighter began to rapidly lose altitude. An experienced pilot did not lose his head and reported to the ground about an engine failure, after which he requested permission to eject. Having received the go-ahead from the ground services, the pilot was forced to leave the cockpit. The bailout was successful, and after landing Skuridin found on himself only minor superficial injuries to one hand. Left unmanned, the MiG took on a life of its own. After Skuridin left the side, the car abruptly stopped its descent (later experts attributed this to a change in centering) and, having reached an extremely low altitude, at a distance of about 5 km, disappeared from the field of view.

This state of affairs was confirmed by the decryption of the "black box", which testified to an increase in engine speed a few seconds after the ejection. What happened was what even seasoned aviation specialists called a unique phenomenon. The plane gained altitude and, in autopilot mode, continued flying along the set course. The MiG-23 flew at an altitude of about 12 kilometers at a speed of 740 km / h.

The European air defense services of the Warsaw Pact member countries took the appearance of a new mark on their radar screens without panic, because there were multiple training flights that day. But as soon as the Soviet fighter reached the borders of the GDR with the FRG, the situation changed radically.

Fugitive aircraft and NATO fighters

Reacting to the current situation, Major General Ognev, at that time acting. Commander of the Northern Group of Aviation Troops, reported to the higher authorities that the MiG-23 fighter fell into the sea and that the casualties were avoided. Apparently, the plane left the radar coverage area, and some explanations had to be given promptly. The assumption that the plane flew westward on its own was not considered. The NATO military guided the fugitive on their radars. And as soon as the car from the Land of the Soviets crossed the border of Germany, an interception group from the frisky F-15 Eagle soared into the sky from the Dutch air base Susterberg. They did not shoot down the suspicious fighter without understanding it.

By that time, history had already recorded cases of defector pilots who left the socialist camp in the direction of the West, where they were greeted with open arms. It is clear that the capitalists rejoiced not so much in the fugitives as in the secret technology. The American interceptors received the command to shoot down the MiG only as a last resort. Therefore, the US "eagles" gradually settled in the tail of the Russian fighter as an escort, while it continued its imperturbable flight. Lacking reliable information about the movement of the uninvited guest, the NATO military hoped that with the consumption of fuel, the Soviet fighter would crash into the English Channel. So the celestial cortege overcame the FRG, the Netherlands and approached the Belgian-French border. The Americans realized that the walk was too long, and the defector would still have to be shot down. Well, the MiG had its own plans, and, before reaching Belgium a few kilometers to French territory, it fell.

Belgian victim and global reaction

A Soviet fighter jet landed directly on a private village house located near the town of Kortrijk. As a result of the crash, the home of the Belgian farmer de Lara was destroyed to the ground, and his 19-year-old son was killed. Despite the tragedy of the situation, the outcome was quite peaceful. There were no major diplomatic conflicts. Nikolai Skuridin limited himself to condolences to the family of the deceased, and the authorities of the Land of Soviets paid Belgium a solid compensation in the amount of 685 thousand US dollars for the damage caused. According to experts, NATO's restrained response to the violation of airspace contributed to minimal losses. Far worse consequences would await both sides in the event that interceptors shot down a fighter over densely populated areas.

After 10 days, Soviet specialists were taken to the crash site. The wreckage of the car was taken to the USSR. The reasons for the failure of the aircraft engine were not officially reported, but it turned out that in the last year alone, the fighter had been under repair five times.

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