Thomas Slaybaugh

Night Flight to Freedom Thomas Slaybaugh

In the mid-80's, at the height ofthe Cold War, Herl Vladosk,a Russian military pilot, struggling under the pressure of Communism andfearing the future for his wife and children, made the decision to defect. Motivation he had, but no opportunity. A possible escape means becameavailable when he was given an extra duty assignment evaluating a highlyclassified, test-bed aircraft. He began to develop a plan. Somehow, someway, ifhe could get his family on board and get enough lead-time, he would fly acrossthe Bering Sea to Alaska. He made a flight plan, committingevery detail to memory. He was ready. Still,no opportunity. He continued to fly the test missions from his base ineast Russia. His squadron commander, not privy to the classified flights, continued to makelife more miserable each day. The copilot who had been sent to fly with him, hewas convinced, was also an undercover agent, probably of the secret KGB. Pressure continued to build on Vladosk and his family. The break came when a typhoon hita northeastern Russiatown causing catastrophic damage. Vladosk wasdirected to make emergency flights to the town. On a second supply run, in thedark of night, Vladosk wsable to get is family aboard. (He had left his copilot at the devastated townto assist the mayor.) This time, with his family hidden during offloading ofthe supplies, he simulated a crash at sea after takeoff and made his break. Flying at low level through theremnants of the typhoon, his defection was undetected until too late forinterception by Russian aircraft. Finally, picked up as a faintradar return by an Aleutian Island Air Defense Command observer, U. S. F-15interceptors were launched. The Russian high command, determined that thisaircraft not fall into American hands, advised it was being flown by a derangedpilot intent on bombing Anchorage. They insisted that it be shot down before reaching landfall. First radar, then visual sightingwas confirmed by the interceptor pilots. The fact hat Vladoskhad his wife and child