On August 15, 2019, the A321 passenger aircraft, performing a scheduled flight Moscow - Simferopol, immediately after taking off from Zhukovsky airport collided with a flock of seagulls. The liner failed both engines. However, the pilots were able to accomplish the impossible - they successfully landed the plane in a corn field.
None of the 226 passengers and 7 crew members on board the liner were seriously injured. And the phrase, which during the evacuation of passengers uttered 32-year-old flight attendant Dmitry Ivlitsky - "We go to the right, in the sun, along the rows of corn" - became winged.
Together with the author of the phrase, RT once again experienced the events of that day.
- Dmitry, did you have to work before with the crew that flew with you that day?
- This was the first flight. We, of course, saw each other on the ground, but this was the first time we flew on a business trip with such a train. The lineups are constantly changing.
- When did you realize that an emergency occurred and the flight was not going according to plan?
- At first everything was regular: takeoff, the plane took off from the ground. And after 30 seconds a noise, a strong vibration began. I thought that now we will return for the second round at the airport. After about a minute, I saw that the right engine was gaining momentum and then dropping, there were pops, the so-called engine surge.
The ship's emergency communications commander will usually alert us to the action to be taken. This time, no information was received. The pilots didn't have time for this. We sat and waited for boarding.
When we sat down, there were two contacts with the ground, and the feeling that we sat down at the airport, but sat down harshly. They stopped, as it seemed to me, quickly.
- Together with pilot Damir Yusupov
- © Photo from personal archive
- How did the passengers react to everything?
- The passengers sat quietly - it was early morning, many were half asleep, so they just looked at me, the question was read in their eyes: "What's going on?" I nodded to them, they say, everything is fine, now we will return back to the airport.
- And how did you feel at that moment?
- During the landing, of course, I had a panic inside, but I did not show it. It was necessary to keep cool, although there are small windows in our places, it was hard to see what was happening outside.
Despite this, the entire crew acted strictly according to instructions, no one had a stupor. All safety precautions have been worked out to the point of automaticity, as they should be.
We undergo training, practice, practice landings both on land and on water.
Flight attendants undergo training, including in medicine, there are different situations - in my practice there were both epileptic seizures and aerophobia.
- How did the events develop after the plane landed?
- Everyone sat quietly in their seats, there was silence and darkness. No one jumped up and shouted. I went to find out what was going on because the connection was not working, nothing at all worked. When I approached the commander's cabin, they told me to begin the evacuation.
As soon as we opened the emergency exits and checked the ramps, the passengers began descending from the plane to the ground.
- Is the phrase about corn and the sun your improvisation? Why do you think it has become so popular?
“When all the passengers left the plane, it turned out that the corn in the field around them was two meters high. Where to go -unclear. The only landmark isthis is the Sun. I was still standing upstairs, at the door of the plane, and I could see the road where emergency vehicles were already approaching. This is how this phrase was born, so that people could go for help.
I am pleased that this phrase then defused the atmosphere a little and made people smile. We practically do not joke about this landing, but my colleagues sometimes jokingly call me a cob for that flight.
- How did the crew members endure everything that happened?
- Of course, we took a vacation to recover and start working again. We went to a psychologist to abstract from this situation.
But after this voyage we became very close. The crew members have become almost dear to each other, a big family. We call, we have our own chat, where everyone shares how they are doing.
By the way, there is also a chat with the passengers on that flight. Sometimes we communicate in it. I remember that someone flew for the first (and, as they now assure us, for the last) time, one young man proposed to his girlfriend, another passenger, pregnant, gave birth to a child.
- © Photo from personal archive
- How did your family and friends react to everything that happened?
- First of all, when all the passengers got off the plane, I called my mother myself. But she did not answer the phone - it was still 6 am in Yekaterinburg. Mom usually, when she looks at the news and sees something about planes, she immediately calls me. And then I called my sister back. He said that the news would be broadcasting about the plane, don't worry, yes, I'm on this flight, but everything is fine.
The friends were, of course, in shock. Dozens of messages rained down, questions about how it all happened. Words of gratitude and support, phrases that this is a miracle and a second birthday. It was a great event for everyone, but for us it was a job.