Expedition to Find Crash Site of Alsib Plane Started in Krasnoyarsk Krai

On March 29, 1944, near the village of Bolshoy Balchug in Sukhobuzimsky District, Krasnoyarsk Krai, the expeditionary team began searching for the crash site of the “Airacobra” aircraft which was being transported along the Alaska–Siberia air route. The search specialists also plan to find the grave of its pilot – the pilot of the 5th Air Transport Regiment Georgy Samartsev – and erect a monument to the hero.

“The plane of the flight commander of the 5th Air Transport Regiment, Senior Lieutenant Samartsev, crashed near the village of Glubokiy Ruchey during the flight from Kirensk to Krasnoyarsk. The pilot was buried at the crash site. In the following years, the place of the crash and the burial of the pilot was lost. The search teams of Krasnoyarsk Krai have repeatedly tried to determine the crash site of Samartsev’s aircraft. In the period from 2013 to 2016, several search trips were conducted to the area of the plane crash and to the site of the former village of Glubokiy Ruchey. As a result, a number of small fragments of the “Airacobra” fighter were found at the alleged crash site of the aircraft. The materials were then transferred to the museum of Zheleznogorsk,” said the famous search specialist, head of the Commission for the Preservation of Historical Memory of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Branch of the Russian Geographical Society Alexander Matveev.

The expedition team includes representatives of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Branch of the RGS; Siberian Fire and Rescue Academy of the State Fire Service of the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters; as well as its Youth Club of the RGS; the military unit of Zheleznogorsk; the museum of the city of Zheleznogorsk; and the search team "Trassa" of Military Engineering Institute of Siberian Federal University.

“In the Year of the Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Russia and the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Alaska-Siberia air route, the organization of this interdepartmental expedition is doubly significant. Preserving historical memory, perpetuating the achievements of the ALSIB pilots, instilling a sense of belonging to those historical and, sometimes, tragic events that took place next to us, and, of course, patriotic, spiritual, and moral education of students and young people –  this is our main goal,” said the head of Siberian Fire and Rescue Academy of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, Colonel of the Internal Service Ivan Sergeev.

The task of the new stage of work, which has started now, is to obtain information that can confirm the crash site, search for the burial place of Senior Lieutenant Samartsev, and install a memorial plaque.