Russian pilot saves 39 lives after making emergency landing of Il-18 in Arctic wasteland

Russian pilot saves 39 lives after force landing his Il-18 on a wasteland in the Arctic. He carried out a near impossible emergency landing. The ageing Ilyushin-18 broke into three pieces with both wings torn off - the 'miraculous touchdown' was 19 miles from its destination of Tiksi.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 20 December 2016.

The 44-year-old captain from Yekaterinburg was hailed a 'hero' for overcoming technical problems in atrocious weather as he piloted the 51-year-old plane. Among his passengers were pilots in Vladimir Putin's air force flying for training in the Arctic. Several of them are believed to be seriously injured.
The aircraft was on a flight from Yekaterinburg to Tiksi with a stopover in Kansk. One probable reason for the accident was that the IL-18 suffered from ice on its wings as it approached its final destination in appalling weather. The black boxes of the plane have been retrieved and have been sent for decryption and analysis.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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