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Two Finnish Guys’ Cold War Flight Deep Into USSR In 1976. Part 2

 
The U.S. Navy Queenfish submarine at the North Pole on Aug. 6, 1970. Source: The New York Times

A Chicken Meets a Big Eagle

15 minutes after take off from Alakurtti airfield, and still believing that they were in Swedish airspace, the pilots saw a delta-wing fighter appearing behind the Cessna on a catch-up course. After flying under the Finnish plane, the fighter took off right in front of its nose, made a 90-degree turn to the right and disappeared from view in the clouds. 

The event happened so suddenly that the pilots did not have time to notice the national identification marks on the fuselage and wings, immediately after this unusual event coming to the logical conclusion that since they were in Sweden, they had therefore seen a Swedish Draken fighter (photo below).

Rajala, being a professional pilot, assumed that the plane would return, give the international signal for forced landing and help to land at the nearest airfield, but no one else disturbed them and the plane calmly continued on its way to the east.

The rules of conduct for the interceptor aircraft and the intercepted civilian aircraft were obviously known to Rajala, who was waiting for the Swedish interceptor to do the following: the fighter pilot was supposed to fly up to the Cessna from the left side and, flying a parallel course, take a position slightly higher and in front, if possible, look inquisitively into the eyes of the intruder pilot, and then shake his wings, showing the especially slow-witted civilian pilots the weapon under his wings – these actions, an analogue of sign language, translated into the simple international language of communication in the air mean the fact of interception and an order to follow the fighter. 

However, this time the pilot's actions were ambiguous: the plane emerged from under the Finnish plane and crossed its course in the vertical plane, which means the above – intercepted, follow me! However, the subsequent maneuver with a sharp turn to the side (at 90 degrees) means that the interceptor no longer has any claims against the intruder, and it can continue the flight, which is what the Finnish guys did.

Swedish supersonic fighter SAAB 35 Draken. Photo: SAAB 35 Draken / Military Review

Soviet border guards visually, and air defense systems on radar screens, detected the Finnish Cessna immediately after crossing the state border, the local air defense command, however, considered this incident insignificant, and the border guards directly reported information about the incident to the 431st fighter aviation regiment (431st IAP).

The Su-15TM from the 431st IAP, based in the village of Afrikanda under the control of Captain Vdovin (published in Murmansky Vestnik 06.12.2014), intercepted the Cessna east of Alakurtti at 19.52, identifying the Finnish civilian aircraft, but due to the difference in speed and rainy, cloudy weather, was unable to reach the target a second time. 

According to Russian data, this was the first interception performed by the Su-15TM, ​​which entered service in 1973. Then, Su-15TMs and MiG-15UTIs were additionally sent to intercept, but they were unable to detect the low-flying Finnish aircraft in adverse weather conditions. 

In addition to poor visibility, the interception failed due to the technical features of the interceptor: it was easy to control at speeds above 500 km/h, but due to its large mass and small wing area, it was prone to stalling at speeds one and a half to two times higher than the Finnish Cessna (approximately 180 km/h).

It was also dangerous for pilots during landing, the landing speed of the Su-15 was initially 350–360 km/h, and only after the area of ​​each wing was increased by 1 square meter did this figure drop to 310 km/h. (For the aircraft, see the test pilot's memoirs. For the more modern Su-27, this figure is almost 100 km/h lower: 225–240 km/h).

This is how Finnish pilots could see the Soviet interceptor fighter SU-15TM. Photo: SU-15TM / oruzhie.info
Su-15TM with serial number 1015331 from the 431st Air Defense Fighter Regiment, part of the 10th Independent Red Banner Air Defence Army. Abram-Mys, memorial complex "Defenders of the Murmansk sky". It is possible that this aircraft intercepted the Finnish Cessna. Photo: Live Journal
The runway of the airfield near the village of Afrikanda. From here, a Su-15TM under the control of Captain Vdovin took off to intercept the Cessna. Photo: Abandoned military airfield "Afrikanda" / Auto Travel

The economy of the Nordic countries grew rapidly in the post-war "fat" years, in the case of Finland, primarily due to the extremely profitable trade with the Soviet Union, and the well-being of the bulk of the population grew at the same rate (in 1966, the poor in Finland accounted for more than 18 per cent of the total population or 800 thousand people, in 2021 the poor amounted 16.3 per cent or 894 thousand people). 

The wealthy part of post-war Finnish society could afford to acquire not only cars, but also airplanes, and a little later helicopters. The widespread use of light aircraft in Norway and Finland since the 1960s had been a headache for the Soviet air defense long before the flight of the Finnish guys, after which the air defense commander, Marshal Pavel Batitsky, ordered that the SU-15 be re-armed with aircraft cannons (UPK-23-250 with 250 shells).

On the left is Marshal Batitsky. Source: gusev-online.ru

Rajala and Polet thus unintentionally contributed to the further development of the Soviet military-industrial complex, which received considerable orders for additional armament of almost 1,300 Su-15 aircraft of all modifications and provided work for a large number of Soviet workers. 

Su-15 after landing. UPK-23-250 gun pods are suspended from the fuselage. Source: NGO Society of Friends of Air Fleet

Immediately after the interception, Rajala, as an experienced pilot, explained the situation to the cadet by saying that, having seen Finnish identification marks on the Cessna, the Swedish pilot decided to give the aircraft of a friendly neighboring country the opportunity to return to its native land. 

This logic, however, was clearly not consistent with the fact that after takeoff from Alakurtti and the encounter with the military aircraft, the Finnish-Swedish border did not appear, and it seemed to moving further and further east.

Actual flight route. Author.

And finally, a glimmer of hope appeared: a sea bay appeared ahead, which, according to the heroes of my story, was nothing other than the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia between the Swedish cities of Luleå and Kalix. A small urban-type settlement, a highway and a power line slowly floated below. 

The sight of mass Soviet urban development with its five-story apartment buildings, copied on the orders of Nikita Khrushchev from the French four-story post-war original, but with the addition of an extra floor, did not cause cognitive dissonance in the Finnish pilots: cheap to build block houses of this type were more than enough both in Finland itself and in neighboring Sweden.

The city of Kandalaksha from a bird's eye view. A modern photo. This is approximately how the pilots of the Finnish Cessna saw it. Source: habr.com
This is not Soviet, but Swedish urban development. The socialist USSR and social democratic Sweden looked exactly the same from the air. That is why Finnish pilots mistook Soviet Kandalaksha for a Swedish urban-type settlement

Emergency landing and an exciting walk through the Soviet tundra

The last 185 km of the Finnish plane's route. Fuel consumption – 23 l/hour. From the place of the emergency landing to the coast of the White Sea is about 50 km, to the nearest settlement, the village of Varzuga – 35 km in a straight line. Author.

The lost Finnish guys were able to enjoy the beautiful and absolutely deserted expanses of the Kola Peninsula for about an hour, after which the gasoline began to run out again, dark blue rain clouds with powerful lightning discharges appeared ahead and to the left, and it was time to look for a place for an emergency landing. 

Half an hour before the inevitable event, both pilots tried to call the Rovaniemi radio station many times and even began to send emergency radio signals (they should have done it earlier, sisu owners!), but to no avail, after which Rajala took control of the plane and, seeing a large lake, decided to land, believing that there might be villages or forest roads on its shore (on the Kola Peninsula, far from the coast!?).

A circular flight around the lake put everything in its place – there were no houses or roads near it, and the place chosen for landing near the lake looked like it had such soft soil that the pilots immediately fastened their seat belts, believing that a nose-over, a 180-degree turn of the plane over the engine cowling, was inevitable. 

In the last minutes before landing, Rajala continued to instruct the cadet, listing the necessary actions, to which Polet optimistically replied: "if we crash, then (in advance) goodbye, Kalle (Kaarlo)." 

At a speed of 129 km / h, the plane touched the surface, managing at the last moment to avoid a collision with a tall pine tree broken by the wind, which flashed under the right wing. After a short run of five meters (the normal run of the older brother Cessna 172 is 170 meters the plane fell on the propeller and turned over on its back, as Rajala predicted.

The Finnish plane at the site of an emergency landing on the shore of Lake Sergozero. Source: Erkkilä V., Iivari P. Kylmää sotaa Lapissa- Vajettujen tapahtumien todistajat. Otava, 2018.

The pilots remained without bodily injuries and got out of the plane without problems at 20.25 (21.25 Moscow time). The polar sun, which never sets in July at this latitude, illuminated the joyful faces of the rescued Finns, who still believed they were in Sweden. 

The safe and sound pilots immediately set up a sleeping area in the plane and lit a fire nearby to make it easier for rescuers to find them and to fight the ubiquitous blood-sucking insects (dear reader, these are not their relatives further south, they are angrier and more energetic!). 

Rajala gave up his seat in the plane to cadet Polet, staying by the fire. The night passed almost without sleep, and by morning a plan had matured in the heads of our heroes, thanks to which they saved their lives: it was decided to go south in search of people and shelter. 

Intuition (it finally worked!) told them that there would be no help, and a quick death from starvation awaited them impatiently. Rajala estimated the distance to the seashore at 60–70 km, almost right, which could be covered in about five days, given the difficult terrain. 

A note was left in the plane, in Finnish, of course: “There were two people on board. No injuries during the emergency landing. 26.7. at 6:00 we are leaving to seek rescue at 180 degrees (i.e., strictly south). Kaarlo Rajala.” They took an airplane compass, all the clothes they had, which were few (why they should have, it was summer, even though it was northern summer), a bag with documents and a first aid kit.

Photo: Tundra of the Kola Peninsula / turclub-pik.ru

For the trek through the swampy tundra, the Finns had ordinary city shoes, short socks, shirts and light flight sweaters. Thus, the Finnish guys had two enemies, the night cold and insects thirsty for human blood, from which, according to Rajala, “the air was pitch black.” 

This is what a person under attack by insects looks like in the Russian tundra. Source: Pikabu

Very rarely did the pilots see such a number of bloodsuckers in Finnish Lapland, which has a simple explanation: by 1976, trying to increase the area for industrial forest cultivation, the short-sighted Finnish authorities committed a crime against their country and the world ecology by draining almost all of their swamps in the central and some of them in northern parts of the country (in the south, the swamps were drained back in the 19th century to grow fodder and grain).

An example of a restored ditch in a Finnish swamp that has been contaminated with fine material from the ditches above as a result of harmful erosion. In the ditch flows Russian Tundra Coca-Cola, which was drunk by Finnish pilots. Photo: Tiina Ronkainen / metsanhoidonsuositukset.fi

The result was dubious – the annual income from wild plants, which is Finland's natural rental capital, fell sharply along with the income of the local population, coniferous wood in the drained swamps grows of very low quality, insects stopped reproducing, and along with them, local and migratory birds died out or emigrated to the USSR, fortunately, the neighboring country with smarter authorities is not far away. And now, our heroes were finally able to get acquainted with the pristine nature that has long been absent from their home country with its cultivated forests.

During all five days of the tundra hike, Rajala and Polet fought Soviet mosquitoes and midges, losing the war completely and becoming wider-faced, swollen from bites (these are not friendly Soviet border guards!). In addition to the insect carnival, the Finns only encountered two moose and three swans over the five days. On Monday, the first day, while they had the strength, they managed to walk 15–20 km, reaching an abandoned triangulation tower by the end of the day, similar to the one in the photo below.

A Finnish pilot climbed a three-span wooden triangulation tower similar to this one. Photo: Khilok Museum of Local History

For the night, the couple lit a fire between the tower supports, to the top of which Rajala climbed to try to get their bearings, but wherever you look, untouched nature stretched out in all 360 azimuth degrees without the slightest sign of human presence. After observing the surroundings for about an hour, the pilot descended to the ground and, in the company of insects, the travelers managed to sleep for two hours, slightly refreshing their strength. 

Before going to bed, the Finns discussed the graffiti found on a concrete pillar-foundation, made on fresh concrete, depicting a hammer and sickle –  one of the state symbols of the USSR. A suitable explanation was quickly found, in Rajala's opinion, there were more than enough fools and troublemakers capable of making such pro-Soviet graffiti in Sweden "before the government of (Olof) Palme", whose first premiership is  dated   1969–1976 (greetings to Finnish school teachers!).

Olof Palme. Soviet citizens were not much different in appearance from the Swedes in the 1970s, practically the same hairstyles and clothes. Photo: Palme Center

I will note here that the Finns as a whole have a very negative attitude towards the Swedes, as former occupiers, or rulers, depending on a person,  of their country during the Swedish rule, the Swedes of Sweden (there are also Finnish Swedish-speaking citizens) respond to their neighbors with the same attitude, considering the Finns an immature, inferior peasant nation.

The food for all five days was birch leaves, by that time still quite fresh (the Arctic!), and the Finnish guys competed with Russian bears, which feed on leaves in these places before the berries ripen, bending young deciduous trees and tearing off the leaves with their teeth, as well as ants. 

The Russian bear bends a young aspen tree and eats the leaves. Source: Yandex dzen

Instead of Coca-Cola, they drank swamp water of the same color. The Finns strictly followed their usual regime – breakfast, afternoon snack, lunch and dinner with leaves – generously washing down the delicacy with brownish water. Finnish sisu, inner strength, and determination to escape at all costs did not suffer from the meager diet, and immediately after eating, Rajala and Polet continued on their way.

On the third day, Wednesday, the forced ecotourists came to another triangulation tower, from which the same joyless picture was visible as on Monday. By Thursday evening, the Finnish guys reached an isthmus between the swamps, where pine trees grew, which confirmed the correctness of the direction of movement and the proximity to the sea coast.

The absence of aircraft searching for the missing pilots confirmed their opinion that they could only rely on their own strength. Finally, on the fifth day, Friday, they managed to reach a river flowing south, to the sea, which soon turned west, which meant that it was necessary to force it to maintain the direction to the south. 

Supporting each other in the fast current, Rajala and Polet crossed the river waist-deep in water, and completely exhausted, they were able to replenish their meager rations with sorrel, and also drink not swamp water, but river water. Life began to improve!

Miraculous rescue and acquaintance with the kind Soviet state

Soviet biplane An-2. Source: Pikabu

In the evening, the buzz of an airplane was heard in the sky, a yellow fire biplane An-2, the Finns quickly lit a fire, but the pilot flying 200–300 meters from them did not notice the smoke signal (in the times of the USSR, in desperate situations, lost tourists sometimes set fire to the forest in order to meet the paratrooper firefighters. Setting fire in tundra, however, is not so easy to do). 

The tired Rajala stretched out by the fire, leaving the cadet Polet on duty and suddenly, oh miracle! – an angry-looking man in brown outerwear emerged from the bushes, loudly and in an unkind manner speaking Russian!

Fire in the forest. Soviet times. The photo was taken in Soviet Karelia, adjacent to the Murmansk region. Photo archive of Boris Semenov

Finally, the Finns realized that they were not in Sweden, but in the USSR! The fireman explained in good Russian obscenities that it was forbidden to make fires in the forest during the high fire hazard season, after which all three began to carefully extinguish the fire. 

Communication with the Soviet fireman took place in sign language, Rajala presented a card of the "International Aeronautical Federation" (FAI), which also contained text in Russian about the need to provide assistance to pilots who had made an emergency landing: "We ask the military and civil authorities to provide protection and assistance to the owner of this card."

The situation was clarified, the rescuer and the two rescued went to the fire cordon, a dugout on the river bank, which was 2 kilometers from this place.

This is roughly what a fire cordon might look like. Source: Pikabu

At the cordon, the Finns were treated to a luxurious reception, the firefighter-rescuer brewed “legendary Russian tea” (in the original interview, Rajala uses the word “tsaikat”, a tracing from the Russian “tea” in the plural), the dear guests were fed sandwiches, the eating of which did not lead to any unpleasant consequences for the very hungry, but strong-stomached Finns. 

Boiling water for tea over a campfire. Source: Yandex dzen

The same benefactor cooked hot food in a pot over a fire – the Finns received “first-class service” – the words of Kaarlo Rajala. The guests were also given tubes of repellents, as a result of which the five-day war with insects finally ended.

The many days of lack of sleep after eating quickly put the unexpected Finnish guests into a sleepy state, requiring an immediate transition to a horizontal position. The guests were ready to settle for a place by the fire, but the "friendly firemen" (Rajala) offered them their comfortable sleeping-beds, and they themselves settled down on the floor (in those distant times men were not supposed to sleep together, either in Finland or in the USSR). 

In the morning, well-fed and well-rested, the foreign guests and their fireman-guide set off for the nearest village, having understood from the number of fingers shown that the goal was eight kilometers away. There was no radio at the cordon. Having covered the entire distance "at too high a pace", which caused the Finns to develop blisters (pilots do not often walk on foot), the company arrived at a fishing village not far from the shore of the White Sea, where the Finns were assigned to stay with a fisherman named Philip, whose house had the only telephone in the settlement.

Fishing village Varzuga. A modern photo. Source: sreda.org

Using sign language, the Finnish guests asked Philip to inform the local authorities of their arrival, which was done. Generous Philip gave the guests two sets of seasonal men's clothing for free (!) and offered to use a mirror, looking into which Rayala and Polet saw unfamiliar swollen and greatly enlarged faces. Their wrists, hands and ankles were also swollen from insect bites. All these events took place at 10:00 on Saturday. Two hours later, a government official arrived in the village, who, after listening to the story in sign language once again, reported the circumstances of the incident to his superiors by telephone.

That evening, a helicopter arrived in the village, bringing representatives of the higher authorities and an interpreter; the meeting was “warm and cordial” (in Finnish: hieno ja lämmin). The Finns had their documents, belongings and physical condition checked, after which they were ordered to rest intensively for three hours to achieve better condition before the flight to Soviet Alakurtti, already familiar to the guests. In their subsequent communication, the representatives of the Soviet authorities treated the Finnish guys like a mother to a child: all further actions were agreed upon with them in the spirit of the most sincere friendliness. No interrogations were conducted at this stage!

Fisherman Gennady from the village of Chavanga situated on the Tersky coast.  Photo: History of Fishing

During the three hours of rest, the Finns got acquainted with true Russian hospitality: Philip's daughter Tatyana cleaned their dirty clothes, and right before the flight to Alakurtti, a hospitable fisherman put a bottle of vodka on the table, which Rajala and Polet drank with great pleasure. 

Soviet vodka had the ability to quickly restore the strength of tired people. Source: Yandex dzen

According to Rajala, after this empathetic act by Philip, "we both had tears rolling down our cheeks" (that's traditional Russian hospitality!). Philip, who had a sense of humor, gave his dear guests two compasses as a farewell gift, so that they would not get lost on the way home.

MI-8, the most widely used helicopter in the USSR, at the airfield of the helicopter college in Vyborg, 1976–1979. Source: Yandex dzen

On Saturday evening, a helicopter delivered the travelers to the military base in Alakurtti, where they asked to report the incident to the Finnish authorities. Upon arrival, the guests were questioned in detail about the circumstances of the case in a polite and businesslike manner. After sleeping on a bed made up of sheets, on Sunday morning, additional details were clarified in a "friendly and even humorous atmosphere" (Rajala) throughout the day, the questioning was conducted in writing and orally. 

For interrogation, the procedural status of the suspect or accused is required; the Soviet authorities did not open a criminal case, and why would they – everything was clear anyway.

Rajala notes that "all the time during the interviews we had the impression that the Soviet authorities were doing everything to help us. Even before meeting us, they had formed the correct idea about the nature of our flight. From the very beginning, we were treated as pilots who had lost their way and were not suspected of committing any unauthorized actions." 

On Monday morning, the Finnish guys were given a schedule for the day: an early lunch at 12:00 in Alakurtti and a helicopter flight to the state border to be handed over to the Finnish authorities at 13:00. This is where the dog was buried, which the Finnish authorities had been looking for  many years – why did the Soviets deliver violators of the air border to their homeland by helicopter, after all, this is a very expensive transport? 

The rational Finnish mind knew for sure that in a similar case with Soviet citizens who got lost on its territory, the Suomi authorities would not have acted like that under any circumstances. After all, the Soviets could have taken the pilots to the border by car, since it was only 80 km away? 

Good neighborliness turned out to be an empty phrase for the Finns in this case, while the Soviet authorities, who had been well-disposed towards Finland and its people since the conclusion of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in 1948 (of the three words in the title of the treaty, only “cooperation” mattered to the Finnish authorities), treated their western neighbor with even greater trust after signing the Final Act in Helsinki in the summer of 1975.

And the answer was simple – the Finns, tired from a hike across the tundra, were not going to shake for almost two hours on a poorly passable road in a car. On the part of the Soviet authorities, this was a natural act of friendliness and good neighborliness, and, yes,  aviation kerosene in the USSR was very cheap. Shortly before boarding the helicopter, the Finnish pilots asked their escorts what wishes they had regarding the nature and content of the information that might be published. 

They were impressed by the answer: there was no talk of any restrictions, they were free to say whatever they considered necessary, the escorts only expressed the hope that "the treatment we received in the USSR was pleasant and we were satisfied with the services rendered" (Rajala). 

Presumption of guilt and the greedy Finnish state

At 14.30 the pilot and the cadet were handed over to the Finnish authorities. During the handover procedure, Soviet representatives announced that they would deliver the Cessna that remained on the shore to the border by helicopter free of charge, if specialists deemed it possible. How could this be? In the country that was building communism to the east of Finland, Rajala and Polet had gotten out of the habit of using money during their hiking trip, receiving everything they needed for free. 

Back home (does Suomi really have strawberries for all its citizens?) they had to immediately remember about money: the border command did not have any budget money (!?) to feed their compatriots (petty souls), and each of them had to pay 4.5 Finnish marks for food in the Kelloselkä border detachment canteen. The Finnish border guards did not pour Rajala and Polet any free vodka either!

Kelloselkä on the map. Source: Ilta Sanomat

In the border guard building, both were interrogated by Finnish investigators until late at night, and this was only the beginning of many days of grueling interrogations. The guys got home to Oulunsalo and Kempele only the next morning, Tuesday. What was clear to the Soviet authorities even before the lost pilots were found, was not clear to the Finnish authorities until the collapse of the USSR, until 1991. And who of them was more understanding and smarter? 

The pilots were handed over to the Finnish authorities in good condition, they were washed and well-groomed, there were no traces of bloodsucking bites on their faces (these are the wonderful properties of Russian vodka and food, especially in combination), shoes in the Soviet Mordor were given out free of charge as a gift to replace the shoes that were torn to shreds. 

From Rajala's memoirs cited above, it follows that the treatment of the pilots on Soviet territory was extremely humane, without bureaucratic red tape, which contrasted sharply with the behavior of the Finnish authorities: the pilot and the cadet were interrogated by representatives of the Border Guard Service, Supo (on whose orders were they flying and were they paid for it?), the Air Traffic Service, and the Criminal Police. 

According to Rajala and Polet, the atmosphere during interrogations in Finland was much less pleasant than in the USSR. Even less pleasant was the information noise raised by the Finnish yellow press, which was full of headlines like: "Flight incident", "Scandalous flight", "Spy story", "Playing for bets", "Drunken party" and the like. 

Only the Apu publication came out with the headline "Is it really impossible to get lost in the air?" The most vile behavior was shown by the flight authorities, who leaked confidential information about the investigation of the incident to the press for money (not for free, right?) without the approval and permission of our heroes, which caused them to feel deeply dissatisfied with the behavior of the officials. 

Representatives of the Air Traffic Control conducted interrogations back at the headquarters of the Kelloselkä border detachment, instructing the returned pilots not to talk about the details of their adventures in the USSR, especially the landing and refueling at the military base in Alakurtti (the Soviet side did not limit the freedom of speech of Rajal and Polet!), limiting themselves to a description of the final phase of the flight and the rescue.

By agreeing to these conditions, the pilots believed that the obligations should be observed by the other party, but the Air Traffic Control and the Air Traffic Control commission investigating the incident deceived the pilots who had relaxed in the USSR, in the most vile way, carefully leaking information to the media that became headlines of scandalous news (the country is small, boring, not much happens, it's not America!) and materials for initiating and investigating a criminal case. 

As a result of the criminal proceedings in the Kemijärvi District Court, a suspended sentence of 4 months of imprisonment was imposed and Rajala was deprived of his pilot's license, as well as the means of support for his three-child family. The pilot instructor was convicted under articles on risky operation of an aircraft, improper preparation for a flight, unauthorized cargo on the plane (the same canisters of gasoline), violation of the law on the state border and its illegal crossing. 

The list of charges also included points on failure to use the Rovaniemi radio beacon and failure to submit a flight plan. At the same time, the investigation materials state that the Rovaniemi radio beacon was not working during the Cessna's flight!

The investigation accused the pilot of not even descending low enough to read the road signs and thereby determine his location! At a speed of almost 200 km/h in conditions of poor visibility and strong wind! Please, invite flight experts to the stage! As Rajala believed, nothing more stupid could have been thought up: "In the opinion of the Air Traffic Control, I should have pressed myself to the ground and, in low-level flight, read the road signs and indicators to determine my location. This would have constituted dangerous control of the aircraft with a threat to life, and I did not admit my guilt (on this point) of the charge."

At the trial, the instructor pilot's lawyer recalled numerous similar cases in the past two years: a large number of light aircraft lost their bearings in Finnish airspace, and even a Finnair regular flight that crossed the border with the USSR without special permission. However, none of these cases received such "unprecedented attention" and publicity as the Cessna flight. 

Kaarlo Rajala believed that the Soviet side had tacitly insisted on criminal punishment (where is the gratitude for the rescue?), but Finnish researchers of the incident Erkkilä and Iivari, believe that the Finnish authorities, fearing that the USSR was testing their reaction to the incident, decided to act preemptively. In addition, the Finnish authorities were offended by the good treatment in the USSR ("the Soviets can't be that kind!") of the lost pilots, and the Soviet authorities' quick return of them and the plane ("unbelievably fast!") to the border for transfer without any claims for damages or compensation.

A very short afterword

Finnish Air Traffic Control updated its air traffic regulations and guidelines following the event. As a result of an appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland, Kaarlo Rajala's pilot license was returned.

Kaarlo Rajala repairs an aircraft at the airfield in Pikkarala, Oulu, August 3, 2009. Source: Kaleva

Kaarlo Rajala's career in aviation lasted more than 50 years. He made his first flight in a Harakka light aircraft as a cadet back in 1959, later becoming a flight instructor, flight instructor and firefighting pilot instructor. For a long time, he was the owner of a flight school. As a  technician in the Finnish Air Force, he was qualified to service Saab SafirFouga MagisterFolland GnatVampir and MiG-21 aircraft. 

In 2004, on the recommendation of the Oulu Aviation Club, the President of Finland Tarja Halonen awarded him the highest rank in civil aviation – pilot-captain of civil aviation. This is a very rare distinction – from 1934 to 2013, it was awarded to only 93 pilots of Finnish civil aviation.

Kaarlo Rajala welcomes readers who have had the patience to read this story to the end! Aircraft repair at the airfield in Pikkarala, Oulu, August 3, 2009. Source: Kaleva

The North Observer

 
02.02.2025