It is difficult to find at least one example in the statistics of catastrophes and accidents, the causes of which could be called inevitable. But they happened anyway. It happened, despite all the obstacles, with strange stability, not overtaking, by the way, world experience for decades in Long-Range Aviation. And although much less frequently than in the front-line (which is quite explainable by the flight characteristics of the aircraft, and most importantly, its mass character), their nature was distinguished by more serious consequences both in terms of the composition of human casualties and material losses. [512]
Since there are statistics, there was also a science that immediately declared the right to make mistakes and the indestructibility of the so-called human factor, but even more so, the vitality of the personal factor. Where can you get away from them, even if ordinary household slovenliness, as a result of bad manners of character and uncouth morals, penetrates not only at airfields, into the workshops of the plant, but also “climbs” into aircraft cabins. Once, the navigator, who had already flown in, and at the same time the gullible pilot beyond measure, set off on a long journey, forgetting, when changing the start, to reorient the course system to new initial data, which differed from the original ones by 180 degrees. I forgot just like that, elementary, without exceeding, sitting in the cockpit, that level of distracted attention, with which it is scary to walk on the ground.
With the onset of night, the entire regimental group of bombers, leaving the intermediate North Caucasian airfield, first rushed east, to the sea range, and then lay down on a direct course to the next landing point near the western borders of Belarus. Among those who took off was the unfortunate one. Having coped with the takeoff, the crew immediately switched to flying in automatic mode, and then the plane went on its own, only in a completely different, mirror-opposite direction. Well, to take a look at the compass or the locator screen! Where is there, "that's what automation is for, so as not to think"! And the plane from the west rounded the Caucasus Range, turned to the right, crossed the Iranian border and rushed straight towards Pakistan and the Arabian Sea. [513]
Now imagine the scene: below, Tehran sparkles nonchalantly with city lights, and above it, at stratospheric altitude, a Soviet supersonic long-range bomber with a combat missile on board rushes.
And such a coincidence had to happen - it was at these minutes, according to the navigational calculation of time under the plane, if it followed a given route, Kursk should have appeared, for which Tehran was taken. Seeing a large city and thus “convinced that the path was right,” the navigator did not fail to report via intercom:
- Commander, we are passing Kursk. This is where my mother-in-law lives.
Tehran was quiet and did not show the slightest sign of unrest. Without a doubt, his air defense (and, as usual, ours) missed the entry of someone else's aircraft into the territory of Iran and did not suspect what kind of plot had been created over its capital.
But by that time, the loss had already been discovered in the regimental group. The control means of the Soviet air defense also caught on. Fornication, though late, but spotted over Iran. Now, from the nearest Soviet airfields, discarding all conventions, they openly pulled the crew as best they could, persuading them to take a new course, the shortest to our territory.
The commander of the ship did not immediately realize the full drama of his situation, but realizing it, he was extremely obedient and, on the last liters of fuel, having missed Iran for an hour and a half, managed to land at the border fighters in Turkmenistan. [514]
It was, of course, a single attack - one for many years - but terrible, how terrible are the consequences of any oversight of unassembled people who are subject to high technical capacities and large spaces.
Iran remained silent. Did he know anything about violating his boundaries? Hardly. Nevertheless, the Soviet government considered it necessary, in order not to run into revelations, to apologize to its neighbor for involuntary treachery. Now Iran was indignant and attacked the Soviet Union with an abusive and intemperate note.
