The two pilots and a passenger, aged 71, 68 and 25, managed to survive the minus 24C conditions after digging a hole in the snow and burning fuel from their downed An-2 aircraft
Russia: Pilots discuss miraculous survival after mountainside plane crash
Two pilots and a passenger had a miraculous survival marooned for three days on a bitterly cold mountain after their plane crashed in eastern Russia.
The trio aged 71, 68 and 25 stayed alive in the bone-cracking minus 24C temperature by digging a hole in the snow and burning fuel from their stricken An-2 aircraft.
A search in Kamchatka was hampered by atrocious weather but the men were eventually found today on 3,690ft Mount Tundrovaya. The 36-year-old plane got into trouble four hours into its flight as it iced up from the intense cold.
The pilots steered away from rugged mountains and crash landed in a snowfield, fitting the ground three times before the aircraft overturned. They had limited food – two loaves of bread and sausage – and ate once a day to preserve supplies, melting snow to drink.
All suffered from frostbite, cuts and bruises but were able to walk from the crash site when an Mi-8 rescue helicopter arrived. The survivors were taken to hospital after their rescue, where one underwent minor surgery.
Main pilot Andrey Gordeev, 68, said the plane lost altitude rapidly due to icing on a flight with one passenger and cargo between the remote villages of Milkovo and Ossora, a 370 mile trip. We turned away from the mountain ridge, and flew by instruments, but they didn’t show the speed. The altimeter showed 200 [metres] at first, then suddenly 100 metres, 80, 10. At 10 [we] pulled the steering and landed hitting the ground three times…”
His co-pilot Nikolai Shcheglov, 71, said: “We were lucky, we crashed into snow.” The pilot said: “We hit the ground three times and [the plane overturned]. The fog was at five metres [so we could not see where we were landing]. We were upside down, it wasn’t easy to climb out…. We switched on an emergency radio beacon.”
The signal was picked up on 20 December, the day after they crashed, but due to poor weather the rescuers could not reach them.
“We couldn’t find the emergency radio [in the aircraft]. We had food, a little, we ate once a day, it was impossible [to stay inside the aircraft]. We dug out a hole to sleep there at night, there was a hole under the wing, soaked in fuel.”
They sat in the fuselage for shelter, said reports. They feared they would die on the mountain but said army training had helped them survive. He said: “Thanks to the helicopter pilots, today is simply our second birthday.” The passenger who survived was named as 25-year-old Andrei Mitasov. A criminal case has been opened into the crash of the plane which was owned by the Light Air company.
