Emergency landing of Ukrainian aircraft. How a Ukrainian pilot became a hero of Turkey

July 27 Ukrainian Atlasjet pilots Ukraine almost blindly landed an A320 airliner with registration UR-AJC damaged as a result of a strong hail in Istanbul.

^^ photo: Oleg Lungul

According to the data flightradar24, this aircraft operated flight UH250 Kharkiv-Istanbul, after which at 18:40 it flew from Istanbul to Ercan, operating flight KK1010 of the parent company Atlasglobal (Turkey).

The Atlasglobal statement, quoted by the Turkish aviation publication airporthaber, says that after taking off for Ercan, the plane was caught in a storm at an altitude of 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) and received significant damage to the nose and windshield, after which the pilots decided to return to Istanbul.

^^ The windshield towards the cockpit became opaque after hail damage. Photo: Atlasjet Ukraine

"The landing was successful thanks to the experience and composure of our pilots," the airline said.

Photographs taken after landing show that the nose of the A320 is actually broken, and the windshield is so damaged by hail that it becomes opaque.

^^ photo: Oleg Lungul

The commander of the aircraft on flight KK1010 was pilot-instructor Alexander Akopov.

"We are facing very difficult weather conditions, which are rarely seen in Turkey. As a result of a change in air temperature by 10 degrees Celsius, very powerful thunderclouds formed within just one hour, and they, in turn, led to heavy rainfall, storm gusts, squalls, and hail. During this time, all aircraft departing from Istanbul airport, had to change their routes. When the weather improved, we decided to take off, however, during the climb of about 4,000 feet, the windshield and nose of our aircraft were damaged by hail. After assessing the situation, we decided to return to the airport of departure. Because of the cracks in the windshield, forward visibility was difficult, so we were forced to land at an angle with a roll. This made it possible to see take-off runway from the side windows and make a safe landing," he commented on the situation.

^^ the pilots controlled the landing approach through the side window. Photo: Atlasjet Ukraine

^^ hail damaged aircraft wing. Photo: Atlasjet Ukraine

On July 29, the press service of the President of Ukraine reported that Petro Poroshenko awarded Oleksandr Akopov with the Order "For Courage" III degree and promised to personally present the award during the pilot's stay in Ukraine in mid-August.

emergency passenger liner

The Ukrainian pilot of the Turkish company Atlasglobal, Alexander Akopov, made a heroic landing of an emergency passenger airliner at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport.

Facebook user Alexander Lungul writes about this.

He notes: “Yesterday there was a hurricane in Istanbul and hail the size of a chicken egg. The plane of the Turkish company Atlasglobal, piloted by Ukrainian pilots, fell into hail. As a result of the elements, the cook was completely broken, the front glass was badly damaged, autopilot, autotrust, "Direct low".

The Ukrainian crew and two Turkish flight attendants showed courage during this incident. The captain landed blindly, created a roll and looked only through the window, without opening it. When he landed the plane, the entire platform of the Ataturk airport applauded.

The pilots of other planes flashed their headlights and simply came on board to shake hands. On all Turkish channels they showed the landing approach, and when the guys arrived at the hotel, all of us and the hotel workers came out and applauded them. It is truly worthy of respect.

P.S. I want to make a small explanation to the video, where they shout in Turkish “he won’t sit down, he won’t sit down”.

Journalist Osman Pashayev wrote: “Yesterday, the Ukrainian pilot Alexander Akopov became the hero of Turkey. In Istanbul there was a downpour with hail and wind. Weather hell and Somalia. The Atlas Global flight was flying from Istanbul to Ercan ( Northern Cyprus). At an altitude of 4,000 feet, the nose and cockpit glass were shattered. Captain Akopov decided to return. There are a lot of videos from the airport on the Internet, as everyone is waiting for a disaster. There are 121 passengers and 6 crew members on board. Akopov lands the plane, tilting the plane slightly to one side so that he can see the lane through the side glass. Atatürk controllers very accurately led him to the landing.
All Turkish media write about Ukrainian Alexander Akopov. Emphasize that he went to the best school former Union namely in Ukraine. He flew 13908 hours.

Recall that yesterday the Turkish media reported that at the Istanbul airport, the plane of the Turkish company Turkish Airlines.

Kazakh pilots were taxiing to the runway at the same time Turkish airline towed from the airport building.

As Politeka wrote, on July 5, two planes to Istanbul and Antalya were not at the Zaporozhye airport for several hours. Flights were suspended due to training flights of fighter aircraft at the request of the military leadership.

As a result, flight Turkish aircraft Airlines was canceled and 286 passengers flew to Taipei on another aircraft.

Earlier, the staff of the Lviv airport urgently evacuated from the Lviv-Istanbul flight after a message from a 54-year-old woman. As it became known, at about 13:20, the woman reported that on board the aircraft

Ukrainian pilot Oleksandr Akopov became a hero when he landed a passenger plane at Ataturk Airport blindly after a heavy hailstorm on takeoff shattered the cooker and damaged the glass in the cockpit.

(Total 6 photos + 2 videos)

Alexander Akopov - captain of the Ukrainian crew, saved the lives of 121 passengers and 6 crew members during a terrible storm in Turkey.

An Atlas Global flight was flying from Istanbul to Ercan in Northern Cyprus and was hit by hail and wind. At an altitude of about one and a half thousand meters, the aircraft's nose and cockpit glass were shattered. The situation was critical, the pilots completely lost their view. At the airport, everyone was desperately expecting a catastrophe.

According to pilot Akopov, at the moment when the plane took off, the weather was quite normal. Although before that there was a storm of rain and hail. But then the weather improved. “Other planes took off in front of me. When we had already risen to four thousand feet (1219 meters), we got into thunderclouds, which were not identified by the locator, ”the pilot explained. A large hail severely damaged the spinner of the aircraft.

Captain Akopov decided to return. In order to land the board, he tilted the plane slightly to one side. This allowed him to see the strip through the side window, as the view through the windshield was zero (see photo).

The other crew members and the Ataturk airport dispatchers did a good job. This allowed for a very accurate landing. On board the plane at the moment emergency landing there were 121 passengers and 6 crew members. This is what the window looked like through which Atlasjet pilots controlled the landing approach in Istanbul.

People on the runways at the airport watching the landing in extreme conditions were sure that the plane would just fall, shouting in Turkish: "It won't land, it won't land." When the captain landed the plane, the whole airport applauded. The pilots of other planes flashed their headlights and simply came on board to shake hands. All Turkish channels showed the landing approach.

Meanwhile, a video from the cabin of the aircraft appeared on the network. Judging by it, the passengers were well aware of the danger of their situation and were close to panic. Some of them were screaming and crying as the aircraft shook violently.

51-year-old Alexander Akopov passenger aviation for 31 years now: the pilot's flight time is almost 14 thousand hours. The hero of the Ukrainian and Turkish media received his education back in the USSR, and after the start civil war in Ukraine, he preferred to leave his native Donetsk to work abroad. Alexander takes his feat calmly, although he admits that this incident turned out to be the most serious test in his entire career. “Just don’t make a hero out of me, okay? - said the pilot to Ukrainian journalists. - No need to exaggerate. I was just doing my job…”

Thursday, July 27 in Istanbul Ukrainian pilot Alexander Akopov made a heroic landing of a passenger liner of the Turkish company Atlasglobal at Ataturk Airport. This is reported by Apostrophe with reference to journalist Osman Pashayev.

According to him, the plane with the Ukrainian crew flew from Istanbul to Ercan in Northern Cyprus.

“At an altitude of 4,000 feet, the nose and glass of the cockpit were broken. Captain Akopov decided to return… There are 121 passengers and six crew members on board. All the Turkish media write about the Ukrainian Alexander Akopov. They emphasize that he went through the best school of the former Soviet Union in Ukraine. He flew 13,908 hours," the journalist said.

User Oleg Lungul also wrote about the incident and the heroism of the crew on Facebook.

"The Ukrainian crew and two Turkish flight attendants showed courage during this incident. The captain landed blindly, created a bank, and looked only through the window without opening it. When he landed the plane, the entire platform of Ataturk Airport applauded. The pilots of other aircraft blinked their lights and just came to shake hands on board... It's really worthy of respect," he said.

It is also noted that during the landing approach, people who watched the plane shouted: "He will not sit down, he will not sit down."

As reported Korrespondent.net , this week from the airport Greek city Heraklion (Crete) due to the breakdown of the aircraft of the Windrose airline.

Egg-sized hail in Istanbul forced Ukrainian pilots to land the plane.

The pilot of the Turkish airline AtlasGlobal managed to land an Airbus F 320 aircraft damaged by hail at Istanbul Airport. Journalist Osman Pashaev spoke about the outstanding landing carried out by the Ukrainian pilot Alexander Akopov on your Facebook page.

“Yesterday, Ukrainian pilot Alexander Akopov became the hero of Turkey. There was a downpour in Istanbul with hail and wind. Weather hell and Somalia. The Atlas Global flight flew from Istanbul to Ercan (Northern Cyprus). At an altitude of 4 thousand feet, the nose and glass of the plane were broken cockpit Captain Akopov made a decision idhumkz come back. There are a lot of videos from the airport on the Internet, as everyone is waiting for a disaster. There are 121 passengers and 6 crew members on board. Akopov lands the plane, tilting the plane slightly to one side so that he can see the lane through the side glass. Atatürk's air traffic controllers guided him to the landing very accurately," he wrote.

The journalist notes that all Turkish media write about the Ukrainian Alexander Akopov. They emphasize that he went through the best school of the former Union in Ukraine. He flew 13908 hours.

On the eve of Istanbul was covered with hail and downpour, accompanied by strong gusts of wind. A hailstorm on an Atlas Global plane flying to Northern Cyprus knocked out the windshield in the pilot's cabin and also damaged the nose of the liner, Sputnik writes.

The crew decided to return to the airport of departure in conditions of severely limited visibility. The experience of the captain of the aircraft helped him land the plane with a roll, as he had to look at the runway through the side glass.

As a result of the incident, the crew and 121 passengers were not injured.