The pilot who saved 121 passengers was accused of separatism - how can we measure heroism?

Adrenaline Дата публикации: 15-01-2026 16:42:00 Просмотров: 310

"On parole and on one wing"

On July 27, a plane of the Turkish airline AtlasGlobal, flying from Istanbul to Northern Cyprus, fell into a strong hurricane at an altitude of several thousand meters. There were 121 passengers on board. According to eyewitnesses, hailstones the size of a tennis ball hit the liner. Pieces of ice broke the "nose" of the aircraft and disabled several of its systems. The glass in the cockpit cracked. Pilot Alexander Akopov had to land almost blindly: tilt the ship on its side to see the runway through the side glass. None of the passengers were injured. After landing, he was applauded by the entire Istanbul airport.

Akopov's flight experience is 30 years, 13,908 hours. The first thing he did when the plane was already on the ground was to call his 15-year-old son, who also dreams of becoming a pilot. By the way, Akopov's father is also a pilot.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko awarded the pilot as a Ukrainian hero with the Order of Courage. “The whole world knows this name today. And it was a great pleasure for me to personally thank Alexander for his act. Our compatriot, without exaggeration, became a hero by landing a plane beaten by hail blindly at the Istanbul airport. Thanks to the ultra-high professionalism and unheard-of endurance of Alexander, 121 passengers and 6 crew members can now celebrate their second birthday, Poroshenko said. “Ukraine is proud of such sons.”

By the way, many have noticed that Ukrainian politicians are happy to PR on the top news, although in fact the Ukrainian in the pilot of the Turkish airline was only citizenship. “But the homeland, where a high-class pilot could not find a decent job, is in a hurry to appropriate his success,” complained a Ukrainian blogger under the pseudonym pauluskp.

Many Ukrainian politicians began to be proud after the story about the pilot-heroes spread around all the television companies of the world. But not for long: the nationalists climbed to study the pages of Akopov in social networks and immediately raised a howl demanding to deprive him of the order.

"Traitor" and "separatist"

The thing is that the pilot is from Donetsk and worked for many years in the now bankrupt Donbassaero company. Also, the title photo on the pilot's page, which depicts Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov , became the reason for the persecution . The user Sergey Naumovich was the first to raise a wave of national anger .

<“Oops ...“ Pride ”of Ukraine, the pilot who saved the lives of 127 people, including his own, Alexander Akopov, in May 2015 put a photo of Sergey Lavrov on his FB avatar. She is still there to this day. And this is not in 2013, not in 2012, but already in May 2015! Those. after Ilovaisk, Debaltsevo, DAP, etc. I don’t know about you, but for me, after what I saw, my attitude towards the “hero” completely changes. Sorry. You can throw stones at me, but I refuse to step over my principles that relate to Russian aggression… In other words, Akopov is going to……..”

Another "fault" of Alexander Akopov is that among the friends and subscribers of the pilot, many DPR militiamen were found. Moreover, the nationalists claim that the pilot's family still lives in Donetsk. From a "savior" the pilot immediately turned into a "separatist", and from a hero into an outcast.

“He was just saving his own skin, he is also a“ hero ”to me,” Igor Sityuk wrote caustically . “Ask anyone related to air transportation, this comrade deliberately endangered the lives of passengers by deciding to fly into a thunderstorm and hail,” a certain Mikola Ganich found the corpus delicti in the actions of the pilot .

In fairness, it should be noted that the hero also had defenders.

“What do normal people do when they read the news about the pilot Alexander Akopov, who skillfully landed a damaged plane at Istanbul airport? They rejoice for the rescued people and thank the pilot for his professionalism. What are Ukrainian journalists doing? They, of course, climb to check whether Akopov is “separated” for an hour, or you never know. And it turns out that “separ,” wrote Yury Tkachev, editor-in-chief of the Odessa edition of Timer.

And the journalist Yuliana Skybitska succinctly formulated the essence of the current Ukrainian society: “on a srach with the pilot, you can only say one thing: everyone ...... to your professionalism, if you are not a“ patriot ”.

Also a "criminal"

They began to “wet” the hero not only in social networks, but also in the media. No wonder they began to publish lengthy expert opinions about ... the crime of the pilot.

“And now, when the euphoria has subsided a little, let's speculate on the topic: how did this plane end up in an area with dangerous weather events that caused such significant damage. In the video, filmed by one of the passengers, screams and sobs are clearly audible - people really said goodbye to life in a plane shaken by a thunderstorm. The fact that they survived is, without exaggeration, a real miracle, - in a note under the heading "A Hero or a Criminal," Honored Test Navigator of the USSR Oleg Korshunov comments on the incident.. - I know firsthand that before deciding to take off, the commander of any aircraft begins his preparation for the flight by carefully studying and assessing the weather conditions along the route. Therefore, he could not have been unaware of the presence of thunderstorms in the area of the departure airfield, carrying a potential threat ... According to aviation rules, such reckless actions are regarded as criminal sloppiness. I don’t know if Akopov will receive any punishment, but in my opinion he deserves it.”

“Yes, I have sympathy for Russia”

The pilot himself has a philosophical attitude to the cries of nationalists, he prefers not to enter into political discussions, and the photo of Minister Lavrov is not going to be removed from his page. He spoke about this in an interview with the Ukrainian edition of Strana.ua.

“Of course it's unpleasant. But this is how I feel about it: you can’t put a scarf on every mouth. In the times we live in, this is normal. There is a person called a hero, he must be criticized,” he told reporters. And he explained how Sergey Lavrov appeared on his page. “It was our flight attendant who took my picture. I simply look like Lavrov. We have the same type of face, similar features. Yes, I put it on the avatar, but that was a long time ago, even before the start of the war in Donetsk. I'm not going to change it."

When Alexander Akopov is asked about his assessment of the war in the Donbass, he tries not to play on anyone's political field: “There is nothing even to comment on here. I am very worried about this. To such an extent that already the breath spirals. The best airport, the best football team. Can you imagine what it's like to lose everything? In short, war is war. You know, you can say whatever you want. Sympathy for Russia? Yes, I have sympathy for Russia. Sympathy for Russian hockey. And for football - Ukrainian. But I live and work in Ukraine. You shouldn't accuse me of separatism."