As residents of the Mirny settlement in the Kamenskovsky district, near which the tragedy occurred, recall, the plane, flying at an altitude of about 4 thousand meters, entered a thundercloud, then there was a strong explosion. Then the Boston crashed almost vertically into the forest near the village of Palashkino. When local boys ran to the crash site, they imagined a terrible picture: three tons of fuel were burning, trees were burning and ammunition was exploding. The tragedy occurred on July 29, 1943. On this day, an airplane with 4 crew members took off for a training flight from the military airfield of the city of Ryazhsk in the Ryazan region, where the 173rd long-range fighter regiment of special purpose was based. The plane was controlled by an experienced pilot, awarded the Order of the Red Star - thirty-two-year-old senior lieutenant Konstantin Medvedev. He had 34 combat sorties behind him, including fighting in the skies over Stalingrad. They were flying high, not using ground reference points - the regiment's newcomer, navigator Aboimov, was undergoing training. The plane was supposed to fly to Ivanovo, turn around to Orekhovo-Zuyevo and return to its airfield. Half an hour later, communication with the plane was lost. And some time later, Ryazhsk was informed of the tragedy near Vladimir.
Translated by Google •
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