Alexander Sizov - the only survivor in a plane crash near Yaroslavl

September 2011 was marked by a tragedy of a wide scale - a whole hockey team crashed in a plane crash. Immediately after taking off from an altitude of about 5-10 meters, the plane crashed down, leaving, it seemed, not the slightest chance of survival to anyone who was on board that ill-fated flight. But a truly miracle happened, among the 45 people there was a lucky man - flight engineer Alexander Sizov. He was incredibly able to survive after the crash of the liner.

Interrupted flight

The famous hockey team Lokomotiv went to Minsk on September 7 to play a match, which in the end did not take place. Take-off took place under normal weather conditions, and it seemed that nothing preceded the woes. The flight was to take place the day before, but it was postponed in connection with the International Political Forum. The plane tried to tear itself away from the ground already beyond the border of the runway. As the CCTV cameras showed, it was noticeable that for some reason the liner lacked traction, and it was beyond the line. The crew took a desperate step, namely the attempt to fly no longer from the strip, but from the ground. Tearing off the ground, the plane only managed to rise into the air at a small height, but at high speed crashed into the mast of the lighthouse, and then, flying a little more, collapsed down.

The only survivor is Alexander Sizov

In the beginning, a chance to survive was given to two - a hockey player Alexander Galimov and one man from the crew. It was a flight engineer Alexander Sizov. But, unfortunately, Galimov died in the hospital after some time, but Sizov was luckier. He suffered a rather long rehabilitation course and spent more than 1, 5 months at the Sklifosovsky Emergency Research Institute. He was diagnosed with multiple fractures of the ribs, an open craniocerebral injury, accompanied by brain damage, hip fracture and body burns.

He was hospitalized in extremely serious condition, but doctors gave optimistic predictions. Over time, there was a positive trend in his condition. Alexander Sizov underwent surgery, including plastic surgery for skin transplantation. After discharge, he admitted that, despite the incident, he wants to return to professional work.

Sizov's memories of the last minutes before the disaster in his first interview

The maintenance engineer Alexander Sizov, who survived the terrible plane crash, gave the first interview while he was on rehabilitation at the hospital. He told journalists about the last minutes before the plane crash. He remembered everything that happened then on the plane, and it was psychologically difficult for him to recall the pictures of this tragedy that shook the whole of Russia.

As he said, even before takeoff it was clear that on board a freelance situation arose and something went wrong. The plane could not take off for a long time from the runway, and then he realized that they were already outside the band and were taking off from the ground. Then the plane began to fall to one side, and then came the terrible realization that they were about to break.

Plane crash

At that moment, when the plane fell to the ground, Alexander Sizov was not fastened. He felt a strong blow something heavy on the right side of the body. Then Sizov felt that he was in the water, because during the crash one part of the aircraft, namely the salon, fell into the water, and the tail part was on the river bank. The first minutes after the crash seemed to have faded from memory. Then the police told him how he tried to get his colleague out of the fire - hence the burns he received later.

About miraculous salvation

On that day he was in the passenger seat on the last right row, so he was at the tail end of the ship. He did not buckle on his belts, and, perhaps, it saved his life. During the fall of the ship, Sizov was thrown into the emergency exit. Thanks to this, he was able to get out of the burning debris in time. He woke up already in the water, which was burning with the burning kerosene. He speaks about his salvation only as a miracle, because he knows how much nobody knows about the scale of the tragedy, from which he managed to get out alive. From the plane, practically nothing remained, after the plane crash the Yak-42 looked like a piece of twisted iron. With such damage to an aircraft that has collapsed from a height, surviving is truly a gift from above. During his life he had to fight in the hospital too - he entered there in serious condition, with a lot of injuries, but, as he says, the love and support of his family helped him to recover from the blow.

Opinion of Sizov

According to him, the condition of the aircraft before departure corresponded to all the required standards - he personally also took part in the inspection of the aircraft. To that he denies one of the versions that the flight was carried out in a hurry due to the fact that at that time the airport was heavily congested. According to Alexander Sizov, the plane crash happened not because of malfunctions in the work of the aircraft, and preparations for the flight were carried out as usual. There were absolutely no complaints about the state of aviation equipment and preparation for the flight, as he stated to the press, which eliminates the reason for the malfunction of the main systems and mechanisms. He also denies one of the existing versions of the incorrect placement of baggage, that everything was done according to the rules.

Version of the investigation

The official version was the human factor, namely the involuntary depression of the brakes during the dispersal of the aircraft. The speed of the aircraft in the take-off phase was lower than the one that should be. This emergency is attributed to the fact that the flight crew did not have sufficient skills to manage this vessel, and did not have the necessary number of raids in the process of training and retraining. The admission to ship management, according to the official representative of the Investigative Committee, was issued illegally. At the trial, radio transcripts were read out, in which the phrase "What are you doing?" Was heard, and it also became clear that the parking lot on which the Yak-42 was supposed to be was then occupied by another aircraft.

Life after a plane crash

Alexander Sizov after the disaster today, physically recovering from the incident, continues to work in his profession - he is just as busy in aviation. At that time in 2011, he was 52 years old, and he survived his second birth. He had long recovered from the tragedy, and it was not possible to completely cope with this after a while. He does not like to remember that terrible day and tries to avoid talking about it. According to him, even after a few years it is impossible to fully recover from the tragedy. Alexander Sizov now remained true to his profession, with one exception - now he does not want to go up in the air. Now he works as an aviation mechanic in the Yakovlev Experimental Design Bureau. He does not intend to give up his work, which he devoted his life to. With his wife Svetlana Konstantinovna and son Anton, he lives in the suburbs in Zhukovsky and does not like to let the press into his life. He basically does not communicate with journalists and does not like to give interviews on this topic.