Mathias Rust, born 1968 in Wedel near Hamburg in Germany, was a German private pilot who became famous on the 28th May 1987 when he was 19-year-old landed on Red Square in Moscow with a single-engine private aircraft.
The plane was a Cessna 172 which he had rented in Hamburg. Rust flew via Helsinki and he made three landing attempts on the square before he finally landed on a nearby bridge and taxet forward to the Red Square where he parked. He managed to give autographs to some astonished moskovitter before he was arrested by the KGB. He got out of jail after 432 days.
Mikhail Gorbachev put it, in Soviet eyes, scandalous flight to strip out and find scapegoats. Both the defense and air defense ministers were deposed and replaced by the ministers who had a more positive relationship with glasnost and perestroika.
Rust was 18 months in Soviet prison for his flyeventyr. He had no career as a professional pilot and later worked in a hospital in Riss, Germany, where he fell in love with a nurse, and struck her with a knife when he was rejected. For this he was two and a half years in prison, from 1991 to 1993. He then disappeared and was gone for two years. In that time he worked as a shoe merchant might in Moscow.
He said in a newspaper interview in 1997 that he had converted to Hinduism and to marry an Indian woman.
In 2003 he established a think tank of influential people. The company he called Orion & Isis which was oriented to resolve conflicts and find peaceful solutions between states, ethnic and religious groups. It is not known if Rust had some assignments that conflict solver.
Since 2004 he lived in Germany with his second wife, Athena, and earns his living as a professional poker player.
Our collection contains 19 quotes who is written / told by Mathias.
"I ended up injuring her with a knife I had on me. I can't really remember what happened"
"I didn't tell anybody about my plan because I was convinced my family or friends would stop me. I didn't think much about what would happen afterwards"
"I approached Red Square three times, trying to find somewhere to land, before discovering a wide bridge nearby. I landed there and taxied into Red Square"
"I moved away for three years and went to Trinidad where I met my wife, Athena"
"I had one companion. He was a teacher from the Ukraine who spoke English so we could communicate a bit. I learnt a few Russian words, but it was hard to concentrate"
"My plan was to land in Red Square, but there were too many people and I thought I'd cause casualties"
"I wanted to choose somewhere public, because I was scared of the KGB"
"I now work for a finance company in Luxembourg with projects in South America and the Caribbean"
"You have to be young to be able to do things like that. Now I'm more cautious. I'm proud that I was able to do what I did - psychologically it was a great wall to climb - but sometimes I regret it"
"Imprisonment hit me so hard - much harder than I had thought"
"After that I couldn't show my face outside. I lost my identity and balance. I was still living with my parents, and they were my only friends. For so many people, this thing with the nurse was confirmation that I must be mad or mentally ill"
"Once this key conflict is eased, it will have a huge impact on the world. It will take time to find a solution. It's similar to the situation between East and the West at the time of my flight"
"My parents were angry, but they were relieved that I was in good condition. They had been afraid the Russians would torture me. They told me not to do it again!"
"I regret what happened. I saw no other possibility to achieve my goal. It was not hooliganism"
"The defence and air defence ministers were both replaced and more than 2,000 officers lost their jobs"
"My parents came to visit every two months and brought plenty of books"
"I had thought about landing in the Kremlin, but there wasn't enough space"
"I got my private pilot's license in autumn 1986"
"I don't have my pilot's licence anymore, but I'm still very political"
