Go to Turkey…
-Have terrorists ever tried to hijack Armenian airplanes?
There will indeed be people who would say no but the most informed ones will claim that there were a dozen of cases when Armenian planes were seized by criminals. Today we will speak about two of such incidents. The first one took place in 1961, on September 10. It was a quiet fall day. The Yak-12 of Yerevan-Yeghegnador took off in the morning. There were only two passengers on board. The plane was in the sky when the three young men rushed into the cockpit and ordered the pilot to fly to Turkey. Having realized that pilot Edik Bakhshinyan wouldn’t obey their commands they tied him and stabbed him with a knife. The other young men turned off the radio and took on the seat of the wounded pilot. Who were they?
The newbie pilot was Henrikh Sekoyan, 26, who was sure he would be able to manage the plane. His accomplices were students of Yerevan State University Serzj Tumanyan, 18 and Garegin Movsisyan, 27. They chose the way to the west and in order to get there they decided to fly through Turkey. It took only 5 minutes to realize that Sekoyan didn’t succeed. The plane wouldn’t balance and was losing height. At that time the hijackers moved the wounded pilot to the seat and ordered to control the plane and threatened to kill him otherwise. The plane was adjusted and flew up. After seeing that the situation was under control the new owners of the plane calmed down. But this crime has become fatal for the adventurers.
At that time the wounded pilot swiftly turned the plane to the right and moved straight down in order to land on vineyards. The hijackers were tossed to different corners. Fortunately, Yak 12 touched the ground… People rushed to the field from nearby villages, who have noticed the strange flight and descent of the plane. Then it was announced that Movsisyan Garegin died during the landing. But there were versions that he survived the crush but after landing the nearby villagers killed him with shovels and picks.
The two others were shot after being sentenced to death. The pilot, who underwent a serious injury, was awarded with a red flag medal. He claimed that in the beginning he would avoid going out on the street because he thought he might be revenged by the late ones’ folks. Another major incident took place about two dozens years after the incident. When on January 25, 1983 a resident of Ashkhabad, a PhD of Turkmenistan’s Academy of Science Peter Yakimenko stepped on the Armenian land, he didn’t have an intention to go sightseeing. On that very day he purchased a plane ticket Yerevan-Berd, which caused the surprise of residents of Shamshadin, who rarely would see anyone with a Slavic appearance visiting their lands. On that day Yak 40 was transporting 6 passengers. None of them would doubt that a terrorist was taking off the same plane with them. He was strapped with explosives.
When the plane took off he called the hair hostess Ghazaryan and ordered to tell the pilots to fly to Turkey. “I am a dying patient and have nothing to lose. I am giving you five minutes for your decision. Otherwise I will blow up the plane,” reads his note. The plane captain immediately got a hold with the station and presented the situation. The instructions from Yerevan were clear – to stay away from the Turkish border. They were advised to land in Leninakan. After the ultimatum the destroyers that were in the sky escorting the plane had a clear order to destroy the plane. The situation was critical. So what should have been done? In this case, the only thing that’s left is to confuse the terrorist.
The members of the crew told Yakimenko that it would be wise to land in Kars, which is not too far from the border. Yakimenko agreed. The passengers also tried to distract Yakimenko. In the meantime the experienced pilot landed in Leninakan in a way that the criminal wouldn’t notice the red stars on airplanes. Only after the plane touched the ground Yakimenko realized that he was tricked. The situation was really uncontrollable because the plane was approaching the National Security agents in leather jackets. Yakimenko decided to blow up the plane but in this case as well he was unlucky. The explosive didn’t trigger.
The terrorist was arrested. For the terrorist of Ukrainian descent an exceptional decision was made to vindicate him. The doctors claimed that he had delusional problems. He had the intention to migrate to the US and get rid of the “corrupt Soviet Union.” At that time only sick people would say such a thing. The patient was moved to the mental institution in Dnepropetrovsk and from then on nothing was heard about him. They say he was released in summer of 1989. Other versions claim that Yakimenko died in unclear circumstances.
Hovik Charkhchyan
