Mikhail Magaril, b.1950

On 28^th May 1987 the young German pilot Mathias Rust flew from Iceland into the heart of Moscow landing his rented plane, a Cessna 172B, on Vasilevsky Spusk and taxied into Red Square.  He successfully evaded the Soviet air defences causing huge embarrassment to the Soviet Government.  The repercussions of this bold and audacious act were felt widely within Gorbachev's administration.  It allowed the General Secretary to remove key military figures opposing Perestroika and Glasnost and more than two thousand officials lost their jobs. 

''I was nineteen and very political'', Rust explained in 2002.  ''I was interested in relations between East and West, particularly the Reykjavik meeting between Gorbachev and Reagan.  I realised that the aircraft was the key to peace.  I could use it to build an imaginary bridge between East and West.  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.  My main focus was on my mission to get there and land.  I believed that something would work out.''

Mathias Rust was arrested promptly upon landing.  On September 2^nd 1987 he was sentenced to four years in a labour camp for hooliganism, disregard for Aviation laws and infringement of the Soviet border.  He was released on parole after two years and returned to West Germany.  A wealthy Japanese businessman is said to own Rust's aircraft and is keeping it in a hangar until its value appreciates.