Rust.

This is coolbert:

This particular intruder aircraft incident, Adam [Yavus] the naturalized Canadian stealing and flying a small private plane over 600 miles into U.S. airspace reminds me of an earlier incident, over twenty years ago now.

The hijinks of Mathias Rust. [pronounced "Roost"]

"Mathias Rust (born 1968 in Wedel, West Germany) is a German man known for his illegal landing near Red Square in Moscow in 1987 . . . he flew from Finland to Moscow, being tracked several times by Soviet air defence and interceptors, which never received permission to shoot him down . . . he landed on Vasilevski Spusk next to Red Square near the Kremlin in the capital of the USSR."

"Rust's flight had a great impact on the Soviet military and his successful flight through a supposedly impregnable air defense system led to the firing of many senior officers."

"He was sentenced to four years . . . for hooliganism, disregard of aviation laws and breaching of the Soviet border. After serving 432 days . . . he was released on parole"

"William E. Odom, former director of the National Security Agency . . . says that Rust’s flight irreparably damaged the reputation of the Soviet military . . . The Soviet defense minister and the Soviet air defense chief were fired along with hundreds of other officers including war heroes. This was the biggest turnover in the Soviet military since Stalin’s purges fifty years earlier."

One man - - one small private plane - - one flight with no real apparent motivation other than "to do it"!!

Normally, during the period of the Cold War, any person attempting to breach the borders of the Soviet Union, going either way, would BE SHOT DEAD IN THE PROVERBIAL HEARTBEAT!! NO QUESTIONS ASKED!!

Nineteen year old kid, so angelic looking, lucky to have gotten off with his life! And for what? Perhaps, "just to do it"??

coolbert.