Hero awards to pilots
They landed the huge Tu-154 passenger plane at an far-to-short abandoned airfield in the Komi Republic.
None of the 81 passengers and crew were injured when the pilots were forced to make an emergency landing in Izhma, north of Ukhta in the Komi Republic in September. The plane was on its way from Siberia to Moscow when it lost most of its electrical supply and the pilots were forced to find a place to take down the aircraft.
Since the airfield was to short, the three-engine Tupolev continued some 180 meter into the taiga-forest before it stopped and all onboard could evacuate.
This week, President Dmitri Medvedev awarded the pilots who made the miraculous landing with the title Hero of Russia, reports the Moscow Times. The seven other crew-members on the flight were also given awards for their bravery and self-control during the emergency.
