MOSCOW - A Russian pilot who landed a
passenger plane in a cornfield after hitting a flock of birds
said he was no hero despite the Kremlin lauding him for saving
the lives of 233 people.
Russian media have said it was a miracle that no one was
killed when the Ural Airlines Airbus 321 was forced to land on
Thursday in a field on the outskirts of Moscow less than two
minutes after it took off from Zhukovsky International Airport.
"I did what I had to do," said Damir Yusupov, the captain
who guided the Airbus down. "I saved the plane, the passengers,
the crew. I think that was the only decision. I don't think I'm
a hero."
"There was no fear or dread," he was also quoted as saying
by Interfax news agency.
The plane was carrying 233 people en route to Simferopol in
Crimea. More than 70 passengers were treated for injuries
following the emergency landing but nobody was killed. The
Kremlin has lauded the pilots for their handling of the aircraft
and promised to give them state awards.
A second pilot, Georgy Murzin, was receiving treatment in a
hospital on Friday for a bruised chest, the RIA news agency
reported.
Russia's natural resources watchdog said late on Thursday it
had identified an illegal rubbish dump roughly two kilometres
from Zhukovsky International, which is southeast of Moscow, as
being the possible home of the birds which caused the emergency
landing.
Officials from the watchdog and the ecology ministry were
due to check the site as well as others nearby, RIA news agency
reported.