The members of the expedition of the Russian Geographical Society found fragments of the skin and engine parts of the American A-20G "Boston" aircraft near the village of Zeledeevo in Yemelyanovsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai. The combat vehicle, which was being ferried along the legendary Alaska – Siberia route by Lieutenant Mikhail Ermolov, crashed here on July 27, 1943.
The search for fragments of the aircraft was conducted using a metal detector and a ground-penetrating radar. Representatives of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Branch of the RGS, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Siberian Academy of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia and the Youth Club of the RGS created there, the Youth Club of the RGS of Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University, the search group "Trassa" of Military Engineering Institute of Siberian Federal University, the company "Krasnoyarskzheldorproekt", "Geoprof" LLC, and military personnel from the Russian Ministry of Defense in Zheleznogorsk took part in the work at the crash site.
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A-20G "Boston" was supplied to the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War from the USA under the Lend-Lease program. On July 27, 1943, during a flight to the front, an aircraft piloted by flight commander Mikhail Ermolov crashed while making an approach in conditions of limited visibility. The pilot was killed.
A memorial plaque has been installed at the crash site. The members of the expedition of the Russian Geographical Society honored the memory of the Soviet pilot and laid flowers at the memorial in honor of Lieutenant Mikhail Ermolov.
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This is the third expedition to the crash sites of the ALSIB route, organized during the current summer season in Krasnoyarsk Krai. Earlier, similar work was carried out in the area of the village of Bolshoy Balchug in Sukhobuzimsky District and in Yemelyanovsky District.
ALSIB (abbreviated name of the Alaska – Siberia air route, at different times also called the Krasnoyarsk Air Route and the Krasnoyarsk – Uelkal air route) is the air corridor connecting the USSR and the USA that appeared during the Great Patriotic War. Under the Lend-Lease agreement, the Western Allies supplied us with fighters and bombers, and we needed a year-round and round-the-clock air route along which Soviet pilots could ferry aircraft to the front. Despite the inaccessibility of the areas where the airfields were built, they were constructed in the shortest possible time – in just five to eight months. Since 1942, more than 8,000 aircraft had been delivered to the front along the ALSIB route.