On August 24, 1981, on an ordinary summer day, an An-24 airliner flying from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Blagoveshchensk pierced the eastern Soviet sky.
At an altitude of 5,200 meters, an incredible disaster is quietly brewing. The airliner, carrying 26 passengers and five crew members, was moving through the clouds as planned.
However, on this very day, their fate was unfortunately intertwined with a Tu-16K bomber on a mission. The two planes collided violently in the air, and a thrilling life-and-death struggle ensued.
In this catastrophic air crash, the lives of 37 people were forever frozen in that mournful afternoon. However, in this massive air crash, an almost impossible miracle occurred. A 20-year-old schoolgirl, Larisa Savitskaya, miraculously survived after falling from a height of 5,200 meters.
How did this young female passenger survive this devastating air crash? What kind of journey has her survival been?
August 24, 1981 was destined to go down in the annals of Soviet civil aviation. In the skies over Vladivostok, a rare and devastating aerial tragedy is unfolding.
A Tu-16K bomber was on a routine military mission, one of many military aircraft that flew over the area that day. At the same time, an An-24 airliner was flying from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Blagoveshchensk, and no one knew that it would be its last flight.
At an altitude of 5,200 meters, the tracks of the two aircraft coincided. The captain and co-pilot of the An-24 airliner are in the cockpit and fly according to the planned route.
At the same time, the pilots of the Tu-16K were also carrying out their tasks, and they were not fully alert to the possible civilian aircraft at this altitude.
In the Soviet aviation system, the coordination of military and civilian routes has always been a complex and thorny issue. Especially in those days, the use of radio detectors was not widespread, and this lack of technology played a key role in the day's air crash.
Dispatchers of military routes, whose job it is to monitor and direct the routes of military aircraft. But on that day, due to the non-use of radio detectors, they lost the opportunity to spot the An-24 airliner and failed to notify the Tu-16K pilots in time. This negligence in communication, coupled with technical deficiencies, laid the groundwork for this tragedy.
At 3:21 p.m. on August 24, 1981, a tragic air crash was being staged in the air over the Russian Far East. A Tu-16K bomber collided violently with an An-24 airliner at an altitude of 5,200 meters. At this moment, the fates of the two planes are closely intertwined, and they step into the abyss of tragedy together.
The fuselage and wings of the An-24 airliner were severely damaged at the moment of the collision. The propeller of the aircraft sliced through the fuselage of the Tu-16K bomber like a sharp blade in a violent impact.
The force of the mid-air collision was so great that the two planes began to disintegrate almost the moment they came into contact. Every part of the plane was scattered in the air like pieces of paper torn by immense force.
The debris fell downwards with a huge kinetic energy, and with a heavy metallic sound, fell one by one into the taiga below. The forest was destroyed by this sudden foreign object, the branches were broken, the leaves were scattered, and the whole scene was full of chaos and shock. The wreckage of the two planes, partly buried in soft soil, while others hung from tree branches or scattered everywhere.
The catastrophic crash killed a total of 37 people. On board the An-24, the lives of five crew members and 26 passengers were forever frozen that afternoon. The crew of the Tu-16K bomber was not spared either. The wreckage and remains scattered throughout the forest are the most direct testimony to this tragedy.
However, in this massive air crash, there was a shocking miracle - a 20-year-old schoolgirl, Larisa Savitskaya, miraculously survived. Her life is like a fragile and strong light ignited in despair.
After about eight minutes of thrilling free fall, debris of Larisa Savitska's plane finally landed on a soft birch tree.
This unexpected "soft" landing, compared to a direct fall to the ground or landing on a hard fir tree, undoubtedly lessens the impact, but that doesn't mean Larissa was able to avoid injury altogether.
The debris crashed and rubbed against the birch branches, finally stopping, and Larissa was trapped in a weave of trees and plane wreckage.
Her body was extremely traumatized. The spine was hit by the impact, and there were multiple fractures in the ribs, arms and leg bones. In addition, the loss of brain** and teeth made her condition even worse. The pain in various parts of her body was almost unbearable for her, and every tiny movement was accompanied by intense pain.
Despite this, Larissa did not give up hope of survival. In this extreme environment, she struggled to stay conscious. As a result of the severe impact and the ensuing pain, she began to hallucinate in which she saw a variety of different visions, which may have been due to a natural reaction caused by the brain.
Her location is a small world isolated from the world. Surrounded by destroyed trees and scattered fragments of airplanes, the smell of gasoline and burning plastic fills the air. She could feel every wound in her body, but she knew she had to try to survive, even though it seemed almost impossible.
Larissa tried to move her body, although each movement was accompanied by severe pain. She struggled to free herself from the metal wreckage that was wrapped around her body, but her movements were extremely slow and difficult due to the severity of her injuries. Her hands and feet tried to grasp the objects around her, trying to support her body. After numerous attempts, she was finally able to stay seated.
The pain and weakness left her exhausted, but she knew she couldn't give up. She began to observe her surroundings, looking for possible distress signals or items she could use to protect herself. Her eyes wandered, hoping to find something that would help her.
In that desolate and silent taiga, the wounded Larissa Savitskaya struggled alone to survive. She was surrounded by smashed, shattered aircraft debris and scattered tree branches.
In such an environment, she must rely on her own wits and courage to survive. Although her physical condition was extremely poor, she did not give up hope.
Larissa tries to use the surrounding items to provide the necessary shelter and warmth. She struggled to drag a thin piece of the plane's fuselage, using it as shelter to withstand the cold wind of the night and the sun of the day. Although this fragment could not completely block the harsh conditions of the outside world, it at least provided her with some necessary protection.
As night falls, the temperature begins to drop. To maintain her body temperature, Larissa ripped the fabric off the plane seat and wrapped it tightly around her.
Although the fabrics are worn, they are extremely precious in such a situation. Every movement was accompanied by the sharp pain of the wounds on her body, but in order to survive, she had to endure all this.
After a long night, Larissa heard the sounds of animals in the distance. At one point, she even heard what could have been a bear's roar. The sounds were terrifying in the silence of the forest, but she had no choice but to endure the fear and pain as best she could.
During the day, Larissa struggles to move through the forest, searching for water. She found a nearby watering hole and relied on the water here for her life. Since most of her teeth were lost in the accident, she could barely chew even the berries found in the forest. As a result, her main way of survival is to drink water and try to maintain her strength.
During these two days, Larissa has been in an extreme survival environment. During the day, she had to face the harsh sunlight and the bites of flying insects; At night, you have to endure the cold and the fear of the unknown.
Every minute was challenging, but she didn't give up. With all her strength and will, she tried to stay awake and wait for possible rescue.
Her persistence was not without reward. Two days later, the rescue team finally found her in the dense forest. By the time rescuers found her, she was so weak that she could barely speak, but her eyes still had a glint of life. Rescuers immediately provided her with emergency medical assistance and took her out of the forest.
Larissa Savitska's path is full of hardships and challenges. After being found by the rescue team and taken to the hospital, she began a long and painful process.
She suffered multiple serious injuries to her body, including a spinal injury, multiple fractures, a brain**, and the loss of a tooth. In the hospital, the doctors and ** performed emergency surgery on her and ** did their best to get her injuries back to her.
However, Larissa's recovery process was far from easy. She had to go through a lengthy physical process to rebuild her muscles, while also adjusting to the physical changes brought about by the pain and surgery. Every day, she endures intense pain while also facing numerous challenges in her recovery.
In the process, Larissa applied for a disability pension, hoping to get some financial support. Her injuries are serious and she is considered to be fully eligible.
Her application was examined by the relevant Soviet commission and found that her injuries were not sufficient to qualify for a disability pension. This decision was undoubtedly another blow to her, and in the end, she received compensation only 75 rubles, an amount that was much less than the pain and losses she endured.
Such meager compensation was especially insignificant in the Soviet economic system at that time, especially when considering that the average monthly wage in the USSR at that time was about 178 rubles.
Such compensation would not have met her medical and life needs, let alone the enormous mental and emotional trauma she had suffered.
After going through this series of challenges, Larissa decided to leave Blagoveshchensk and moved to Moscow. For her, Blagoveshchensk is full of memories associated with her husband, which became unbearable after the disaster.
Her move was both an escape from those painful memories and a search for a new life and a new beginning in the larger city of Moscow.
Life in Moscow is a fresh start for Larissa. There she continues her ** process while also trying to rebuild her life. Despite the many difficulties she faced, she never gave up. She firmly believes in the saying that "a missile will never fall twice in one place", which gradually allowed her to overcome her fear of flying.