Alexander Sizov, survivor of a plane crash. Alexander Sizov is the only survivor of a plane crash near Yaroslavl

The only survivor of the Yak-42 plane crash near Yaroslavl, aircraft operation engineer Alexander Sizov, told reporters about the tragedy in which the Lokomotiv hockey team died.

Operations engineer Alexander Sizov, the only survivor of the Yak-42 crash in Yaroslavl, spoke to journalists for the first time after the disaster. According to Sizov, even during the takeoff it became clear: everything was not going according to plan, Channel One reports.

“After some time, the passengers began to worry why we weren’t taking off, a little time passed, I realized that we were walking on the ground. We took off from the ground, and I realized that the plane was falling over, and now we would crash,” said the engineer, who was in the passenger seat during takeoff.

At the time of the plane crash, Alexander was not wearing a seat belt.

“At the moment of the impact, everything flew, and I was hit hard by something, because the right side was all broken. In the water, to be honest, I didn’t see anything, I practically didn’t notice anything around - no fire, no plane, nothing,” recalls Sizov.

He remembers the first moments after the crash poorly. The fact that he tried to pull his colleague out of the fire was later reported by the police. At that moment, Alexander received severe burns to his left hand.

According to Sizov, both crew members and passengers knew each other well. They flew together for a long time. And even the second pilot, who was considered a newcomer, worked for the team for six months.

“The crew only flew on this plane, and I only worked on this plane in recent years,” Alexander told reporters. He recalls that there were good, kind relationships in the team. When asked whether there was competition in the team, he answers: “No, there was no competition. What kind of competition is there between good friends?

Sizov also noted that before departure he personally participated in the inspection of the aircraft, which showed that the plane was in perfect condition. According to him, preparations for the flight were carried out without haste, as usual.

In the interview, Sizov also noted that despite the disaster, he does not plan to change his profession. He is now looking forward to being discharged from the hospital.

“I will not change my profession, because I have given a lot to it. Perhaps, I just won’t fly,” says Alexander.

Currently, Sizov continues to be treated at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute. The exact date of his discharge is not yet known, but it is expected to happen in the coming weeks.

Let us remind you that the Yak-42 plane crashed while taking off from Yaroslavl Tunoshna airport on September 7, 2011. There were 45 people on board, 37 of whom were players and coaches of the Lokomotiv hockey club. Apart from Alexander Sizov, no one survived the disaster.

It was marked by a tragedy on a large scale - an entire hockey team crashed in a plane crash. Immediately after taking off from a height of about 5-10 meters, the plane crashed down, leaving, it seemed, not the slightest chance of survival for anyone who was on board that ill-fated flight. But a truly miracle happened: among 45 people there was a lucky one - flight engineer Alexander Sizov. Incredibly he was able to fly the liner.

Interrupted flight

The famous hockey team “Lokomotiv” went to Minsk on September 7 to play a match, which in the end never took place. The takeoff took place under normal weather conditions, and there seemed to be no signs of trouble. The flight was supposed to take place the day before, but it was postponed due to the International Political Forum. The plane tried to take off from the ground already beyond the runway boundary. As CCTV cameras showed, it was noticeable that for some reason the plane did not have enough traction, and it ended up beyond the runway. The crew took a desperate step, namely an attempt to take off not from the runway, but from the ground. Having taken off from the ground, the plane only managed to rise into the air to a small height, but at high speed it crashed into the lighthouse mast, and then, having flown a little more, crashed down.

The only survivor is Alexander Sizov

At first, two people were given a chance to survive - the hockey player and one member of the crew. It was flight engineer Alexander Sizov. But, unfortunately, Galimov died in the hospital some time later, but Sizov was luckier. He underwent a fairly long course of rehabilitation and spent more than 1.5 months at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Medicine. He was diagnosed with multiple rib fractures, an open head injury accompanied by brain damage, a hip fracture and burns to the body.

He was hospitalized in extremely serious condition, but doctors gave optimistic forecasts. Over time, positive dynamics began to be observed in his condition. Alexander Sizov underwent surgical interventions, including plastic surgery for skin grafting. After discharge, he admitted that, despite what had happened, he wanted to return to professional activity.

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

Operations engineer Alexander Sizov, who survived a terrible plane crash, gave his first interview while he was undergoing rehabilitation in the hospital. He told reporters about the last minutes before the plane crash. He remembered everything that happened on the plane then, and it was psychologically difficult for him to remember the pictures of this tragedy, which shocked all of Russia.

As he said, even before takeoff it was clear that an emergency situation had arisen on board and something had gone wrong. The plane could not take off from the runway for a long time, and then he realized that they were already outside the runway and were taking off from the ground. Then the plane began to fall on its side, and then the terrible realization came that they were about to crash.

Plane crash

At the moment when the plane fell to the ground, Alexander Sizov was not wearing his seat belt. He felt a strong blow from something heavy on the right side of his body. Then Sizov felt that he was in the water, since during the crash one part of the plane, namely the cabin, fell into the water, and the tail section was on the river bank. The first minutes after the crash seemed to have been erased from memory. Then the police told him how he tried to pull his colleague out of the fire - hence the burns he subsequently received.

About miraculous salvation

That day he was in the passenger seat in the last right row, so he was at the rear of the ship. He did not fasten his seat belts, and perhaps this saved his life. During the fall of the liner, Sizov was thrown out of the emergency exit. Thanks to this, he was able to get out of the burning wreckage in time. He woke up already in the water, which was burning from the ignited kerosene. He speaks of his salvation as nothing less than a miracle, because he, like no one else, knows the scale of the tragedy from which he managed to emerge alive. There was practically nothing left of the plane; after the plane crash, the Yak-42 looked like a piece of twisted iron. With such damage to a plane crashing from a height, surviving is truly a gift from above. He had to fight for his life in the hospital - he was admitted there in serious condition, with many injuries, but, as he says, the love and support of his family helped him recover from the blow.

Sizov's opinion

According to him, the condition of the aircraft before departure met all the required standards - he also personally took part in the inspection of the aircraft. In addition, 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 overloaded. According to Alexander Sizov, the plane crash did not happen due to malfunctions in the aircraft, and preparations for the flight were carried out as usual. As he told the press, there were absolutely no complaints about the condition and preparation for the flight, which rules out the reason being a malfunction of the main systems and mechanisms. He also denies one of the existing versions about the incorrect placement of luggage, that everything was done according to the rules.

Investigation version

The official version was the human factor, namely the involuntary pressing of the brakes during the acceleration of the aircraft. at the take-off stage was lower than it should be. This emergency is attributed to the fact that the flight crew did not have sufficient qualifications to operate this vessel, and also did not have the required number of flights during the training and retraining process. Permission to operate the vessel, according to the official representative of the Investigative Committee, was issued illegally. At the trial, transcripts of radio conversations were read in which the phrase “What are you doing?” was heard, and it also became clear that the parking lot where the Yak-42 was then supposed to be was occupied by another aircraft.

Life after a plane crash

Today, having physically recovered from the incident, he continues to work in his profession - he is still involved in aviation. He was 52 years old at the time in 2011 and had experienced his second birth. It took him a long time to come to his senses after the tragedy, but it was not possible to fully cope with it psychologically even after a while. He doesn’t like to remember that terrible day and tries to avoid talking about it. According to him, even after several years it is impossible to fully recover from the tragedy.

Alexander Sizov has now remained faithful to his profession, with one exception - now he does not want to take to the air. Now he works as an aviation mechanic at the Yakovlev Experimental Design Bureau. He does not intend to quit his job to which he dedicated his life. With his wife Svetlana Konstantinovna and son Anton, he lives in the Moscow region in Zhukovsky and does not like to let representatives of the press into his life. As a matter of principle, he does not communicate with journalists and does not like to give interviews on this topic.

Second Life? Is she happy? Is it the joy of knowing that you have been given an incommensurable gift and a second chance, or the pain of memories that tirelessly paints all the major notes black? And this color is enough for a million lives... It is not for nothing that God gives some of us another opportunity to stay here on sinful earth. Maybe you need to change something in your life, realize, understand... Not everyone, but probably those who are worthy... We are now talking about a miracle - a man who survived a plane crash, and his name is Sizov Alexander Borisovich.

Zhukovsky is a city where a newly born person lives

The city of Zhukovsky, a former garden city, and now a science city, has found a very nice citizen... Or rather, this man has always been here, but experienced a rebirth. Alexander Sizov, a survivor of the plane crash on September 7, 2011, lives here today and is an aircraft operation engineer. This day is forever covered with a mourning veil, especially those who are involved in hockey feel this acutely. The Yak-42 plane, on board which was a glorious young team of hockey players from Yaroslavl, accelerated, but it was not destined to land on the sinful earth in normal mode. These cheerful guys, the hope of domestic hockey - the Yaroslavl team "Lokomotiv" - were going to a game with the Dynamo club (Minsk). The Tunoshonka River became their last refuge on Earth...

After the disaster, he does something, somehow breathes, walks, eats, drinks, found the strength to live on, adapted. Born in a shirt, he does not give interviews, does not communicate with journalists, it is very difficult for him to remember everything, he tries to forget. He especially avoided press attention in the first years after the accident. His family avoids publicity... September 7, 2011. No one imagined that this date would forever be colored black for everyone who is in any way connected with sports, and especially with hockey. And Alexander Borisovich Sizov is very worried, because according to his duties he must check the aircraft for airworthiness. And with the Yak-42 everything was fine. What happened? The official version points to the human factor.

Story

On that terrible day, Sizov was not part of the crew; he was riding in the rear and was not wearing a seat belt. By the way, many people don’t wear seat belts - they believe that it’s safer this way. Alexander called his wife and said: “When we land in Minsk, I’ll call you.” The ill-fated Yak-42 passed the runway, drove onto the ground and began to take off from it. Already after the disaster, Alexander Sizov recalled that after takeoff the plane tilted and the flight mechanic managed to understand that an accident could not be avoided and lost consciousness. Next there was a river, all covered in kerosene, but he woke up and survived, but he could have drowned or burned... Fractures, operations, Sklifosofsky Institute. But everything worked out, and today Alexander Sizov lives in the Moscow region with his wife Svetlana and son Anton. My son studies at a Moscow institute. Sizov drives a car, walks, he works, leads an ordinary life - time heals everything, and wounds gradually heal.

How and where does Alexander live today?

Next to Sizov’s house, which is located on Gagarin Street, there is the Vzlet cinema. What is this - a bitter irony of fate or mysticism? After such an event, it is unlikely that a person will rise into the air. But the surviving flight attendant Alexander Sizov, who devoted many years to his profession, cannot just up and leave. He does not fly, but his activity is related to the engineering maintenance of airliners: Sizov works as an aircraft technician at the Yakovlev Design Bureau.

The five-story Khrushchev building is no different from similar others. Sizov lives on the top floor in a two-room apartment. Alexander, his wife and son had long wanted to complete the renovation of this apartment. After a terrible plane crash, his wife Svetlana prayed to God that Sizov would pull through. If a person is alive, he can do everything: repairs, work, and the ability to love and forgive. He has a red cat, he loves his owner very much. And Alexander, in rare interviews, always mentions that it was the love of his family that allowed him to survive, and only thanks to the support of his wife Svetlana, Alexander Sizov, who survived the plane crash, is on his feet today...

Opinion

Speaking about domestic aviation, Alexander speaks critically of Superjets, believing that this is money wasted. Or washed. Who, if not him, should know all the ins and outs of the Russian aviation industry? In fact, there is nothing to guess here.

That terrible day

There is nothing to reproach Alexander for - he should not have been in the cockpit, since he is not a flight engineer, but an aircraft operation engineer. His task is to make all the preparations for the flight of the ship on the ground, but not in the air. And there was no need for Sizov to be in the cockpit during the flight. And before the flight he said to his wife: “Everything is absolutely normal, the plane is absolutely healthy.”

How did this happen?

Alexander Sizov was repeatedly questioned by authorities after the disaster. He was summoned to court in 2015, but refused to take part in the process, reporting this by phone. He referred to health problems, but in reality he simply had nothing more to say. Yes, according to the official version, the pilots pressed the brake pedal while accelerating the plane - what else can Sizov say to justify the actions of the pilots? Alexander, testifying, stated that he had no complaints about the airliner and all the equipment was working as usual. Moreover, the plane was loaded evenly - everyone was seated correctly, luggage placement was also in accordance with the norm. Why did the liner collide with the lighthouse antenna?

Favorite work is like medicine

“The past is slowly being smoothed out,” says surviving flight attendant Alexander Sizov. Where are these terrible experiences and sleepless nights now? Every day he spends in his native OKB moves him away from day X, when he received his second birth. But the soul cannot be completely cured. Work is what saves a person from everything: from despondency, idleness, gray thoughts. All the more beloved. The experimental design bureau created by A. S. Yakovlev produced more than two hundred types of aircraft, one hundred of them were serial ones. Just think: in 70 years, 70,000 Yak aircraft were built - this is a record among all Russian design bureaus. And although today the Russian aviation industry is in a deplorable state, and funding comes like a New Year's gift - a rare surprise, but it is highly anticipated, Sizov is not going to go anywhere. He is one of those who is faithful to his work and stands his ground until the end. OKB is the parent of many talented designers, technologists, production line employees and engineers. Our hero is one of this galaxy, and people know for sure: where Alexander Sizov, the flight engineer, put his hand, everything is in order, the aircraft is serviceable. He works conscientiously and is the pride of the team.

OKB

The bureau has received awards for its success in creating a new one. During the war of 41-45. he was awarded (in 1942) the Order of the Red Banner in 1944. Specialists from the OKB, where Alexander Sizov is now, enjoy great authority in parallel scientific organizations, since new technologies are used in their work, and the OKB itself does not stand still and initiates orders for new models of aircraft control systems, as well as engineering solutions. The Bureau works closely with service organizations of the Ministry of Defense, so that high reliability of the aircraft is guaranteed. How could it be faulty, Yak? Moreover, these airliners are used in many countries, not only in Russia.

Let me live in peace!

Alexander Sizov underwent a long rehabilitation after the disaster. The experience left scars, and not just physical ones. He underwent several plastic surgeries, his neck, chest, back - there was no living space, bones were broken. Yes, plastic surgery will correct physical defects, but who will heal the soul? It will take him a long time to stop having terrible dreams about the death of his comrades... Will time heal everything? Maybe if they leave him and his family alone and stop bothering them with speculation, questions and suspicions. After all, everyone has the right to a quiet life, this is freedom - to live peacefully and not depend on others. And no one has the right to take this freedom away from another.

I managed to find Alexander Sizov’s wife, Svetlana, who agreed to talk about how they live now.

“Sasha and I still haven’t come to our senses,” Svetlana Sizova sighs. “I’m talking to you now, and my hands are shaking.” Our whole life that day was divided into “before” and “after”.

He was in a good mood that day. She knew this for sure, because before the flight, Alexander, as always, dialed Svetlana’s number, who was waiting for him at home in Zhukovsky. He said: they say, everything is in order, we are flying from Yaroslavl to Minsk, as soon as we are there, I will call again. On this flight, the team took on board hockey players from Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, who were flying to a game with Dynamo Minsk. Svetlana also didn’t have any bad premonitions; she went about her business. At some point I turned on the TV, and there was the news: “Urgent message from Yar Oslavl. A Yak-42 plane flying to Minsk crashed near the Tunoshna airport... At the crash site there were piles of burnt iron...” She screamed so desperately that the whole house probably heard her. As if in a fog, I got ready and rushed to Yaroslavl.

On the spot I already learned that two were alive: Loko forward Alexander Galimov and her husband.

– In Yaroslavl, I saw the wives of hockey players and their mothers. Together we lit candles in church for the repose of the dead and for the health of the survivors. I feel so sorry for them all - it’s unbearable, it’s impossible to survive this,” Svetlana continues.

Doctors failed to save Galimov - 90% of burns! But Alexander Sizov, taken to the Sklifosovsky Institute with a head injury, fractures and burns, began to recover after several operations...

A month later, Sizov gave an interview to Channel One for the only time this entire year. He said that he was sitting at the very back of the plane - in the last row on the right, was not wearing a seat belt, and called his salvation a miracle. After leaving the clinic, he returned home to Zhukovsky, changed his mobile phone - and closed his life from prying eyes.

Born in a shirt

I was not able to reach Sizov right away. The phone simply did not answer. Then I went to Zhukovsky, as they say, at random. 53-year-old Alexander Borisovich Sizov, his wife Svetlana (works as an engineer at the Instrument Engineering Research Institute - StarHit's note) and their son Anton, a first-year student at the Moscow Energy Institute, live near the center in a five-story building. I asked the tarushka in the yard if the Sizovs lived here. “Are you talking about Sasha, who fell from the sky? – she clarified. - There's his entrance. Half of our houses are cooperative apartments, and half of our houses are state-owned, as they used to say. The Sizovs have a cooperative “kopeck piece”. Only they are probably at the dacha. You’d better ask the head of the house, Nina Ivanovna, she knows.” But 73-year-old Nina Ivanovna shrugs: yes, maybe they are at the dacha. They appear occasionally - then we see their car in the yard. Which one? I don't know much about brands. The grandson, Vanya, a schoolboy, suggests: “Uncle Sasha has a blue Lada.”

- When everything happened, the journalists spent the day and night here, they kept watch for Svetochka: how and what? – says Nina Ivanovna. “On the day of Sashenka’s discharge, they must have been waiting for him at the hospital. But we didn’t have one here. My grandson and I were walking in a completely empty yard. His friend brought Sasha. The car stopped at the end of the house on our side, Sveta and Sasha got out, he was on crutches. I told him: “Sasha, my dear, you were born wearing a shirt!” And the grandson too: “In a shirt, in a shirt!” Sasha extended two fingers forward: “In two whole shirts!” He probably meant that he survived and survived later. The Sizovs’ entrance is half a yard away from us. “Why didn’t you come closer?” – I was worried. But it turned out that Alexander
he himself asked to stop - precisely because he saw the eldest in the house. “I should get a passport as soon as possible, it’s all burned out,” he said to Nina Ivanovna.

- We helped, of course. I remember Sasha as a child, our house was occupied in 1969, he was 10 years old, he grew up before my eyes. Unusually kind. I remember once before the disaster I complained to him: “Such huge icicles on the roof - God forbid they fall on someone!” So he immediately started to shoot them down. He walks back, wet to the waist: “Nothing, nothing, if necessary, contact me!” But since that time we have hired a special service to break the ice, paying 6 thousand rubles each time.

By the way, if we collect money for something, the Sizovs are among the first to donate, you don’t need to remind them. The windows in our part of the house were recently replaced, the old ones were absolutely terrible, I was embarrassed in front of the press. Journalists still visit Sasha. True, I didn’t hear her and Sveta talking to them. Maybe you can do it...

Raise to your feet

I didn’t find the Sizovs that day. Only a few days later Svetlana picked up the phone at home.

-Have you come? “We just got back,” she replied. – I took a vacation, first we visited friends, then we were at the dacha. Previously, they planted a lot of things there, but this spring there was no time for a vegetable garden, as you understand, the harvest turned out to be small. We've collected it, now we'll can it. Sorry, my husband doesn't talk to the press yet. Yes, me too, to be honest. Some journalists behaved in a way that made me feel sick. Imagine, I’m returning from Yaroslavl, and they… won’t let me into the apartment! A journalist standing in front of me is about one meter eighty tall, and I myself am 1 m 60 cm, and announces: “Until you talk to me, I won’t let you pass.” How is this possible?! I'm falling off my feet, my husband is in intensive care...

– How is Alexander Borisovich’s health now?

- Nothing, it’s fine.

– In that only interview, he said that he would not change his profession, he had given too much to it. How is his job?

- Not yet. Not another word about work - I’m afraid I’ll jinx it.

– Did your husband’s insurance get paid? Did they give you some kind of disability group?

– Sasha handles all financial matters and registration of disability himself; I don’t get involved in these matters. I, as they say, raised him to his feet - that was my main task. After discharge, he could not move without crutches, then he walked with a stick. And a few months ago I took the first step on my own - it was such a happy day for me!

– The disaster prevented Alexander Borisovich from completing renovations in the apartment...

– Now Sasha is just finishing everything, he has golden hands. His son Anton helps him, he entered college this year and made his dad happy. We have a wonderful family, Sasha and I have been together for 22 years. Previously, we often celebrated holidays with my husband’s colleague and friend Volodya Matyushkin (engine maintenance engineer, died in a plane crash on September 7, 2011 - StarHit note) and his wife Natalya. Sasha finds in himself
strength to support it. We continue to be friends with her, I often call her, she calls me. On this anniversary, let's remember Volodya together.

– Will you go to his grave?

– Definitely, and not only to Volodya – to all the guys from the crew. Sasha and I take the grief of their relatives to heart. Although we hardly talk about what happened, even among ourselves. It happens, of course, that’s it, I remember it, but we try to stop the conversation as soon as possible. It’s still very difficult for Sasha...

The price of life

Deputy General Director of ZJSC Lexgarant Mikhail Shelyubsky:

– At the end of last week, the entire insurance amount for Alexander Sizov was transferred to his account. Sizov spent a year filling out the documents, because first he was in the clinic, then he was on sick leave. I will not disclose the amount of insurance - the information is confidential. While the amount of compensation for injury received is confidential information, payments for dead crew members are not.

Lyudmila Zhevelova, widow of Yak-42 co-pilot Igor Zhevelov:

– Each crew member was insured for 100 thousand rubles by the Lexgarant insurance company. And me, as a flight attendant, too. I haven’t received the money yet - I’m collecting documents. They tell me: why are you waiting, there are 100 thousand! And what? If my husband and I were on board then, would our son Yegor, he is 15 years old, now receive 200 thousand rubles? For mom and dad, right? Yes, I’m ready to give the money myself, just give me the people back!

In September 2011, the sports world shuddered: in a plane crash at the Yaroslavl airport, she was about to fly to a match in Minsk. Despite the fact that the official investigation was completed the following year, the legal battle is still ongoing. Relatives of the dead Lokomotiv athletes are trying to achieve an objective investigation, since the conclusions of the investigation raise questions.

Unexpectedly for everyone, the only survivor of the terrible disaster, flight engineer Alexander Sizov, came to the next hearing held in the Yaroslavl District Court. With his appearance, he literally took away the power of speech from those present, because previously he had categorically refused to testify, to which he had the right, since he was involved in a high-profile case as a victim, reported “KP in Belarus”.

Sizov was still expected in the courtroom (the parents of the hockey players filed a corresponding petition), but only on February 12. And he came two days earlier, and even in the middle of the meeting. However, the flight engineer managed to shed some light on the circumstances of the disaster.

According to him, on the fateful day, the Yak-42 plane in which Lokomotiv was flying first flew from Moscow to Yaroslavl. At the same time, its technical condition did not cause any complaints, including from the pilots. Landing at Tunoshna airport also went without any delays. And soon the athletes appeared.

Among the cargo they had were large black bags, iron boxes, trunks with clubs. “I flew with Lokomotiv the entire previous season, and this time the baggage was the same as usual,” Sizov emphasized.

Thus, he commented on one of the unofficial versions, according to which the plane could have crashed due to improper loading of luggage. The flight engineer also refuted the assumption that. According to him, preparations for the flight took place without haste, and there was nothing unusual in the behavior of the pilots. Although at previous court hearings one of the airport employees stated that the pilots were noticeably nervous. Sizov noted that everything was so calm that he even dozed off.

I woke up when someone said loudly: “Why don’t we take off?” - said the flight engineer. - I looked out the window. It was clear that the plane was moving. After 5-7 seconds the plane slid onto the ground. Then he took off, but not smoothly, but with his nose in the air. Then my soul sank into my heels. Everything began to move: partitions, panels. That's all. Next is a collision.

HOW IT WAS

On September 7, 2011, during takeoff, the plane with Lokomotiv rolled off the runway, after which it began to rise into the air from the ground. The Yak-42 gained a height of only 5-6 meters, and then collided with a radio beacon and crashed into the ground on the bank of the Tunoshonka River. The ensuing explosion claimed the lives of 43 passengers and crew members out of 45. Only flight engineer Sizov and . The latter died in hospital five days later.

According to the official version, the cause of the disaster was an error by the crew commander or co-pilot, one of whom involuntarily began to brake while accelerating - presumably by pulling the steering wheel towards himself to lift the ship into the air. As noted by the International Aviation Committee, traces of the antiepileptic drug phenobarbital were also found in the co-pilot’s body. It has an inhibitory effect on the nervous system, and pilots taking it are not allowed to fly.