Ural Airlines Technician Rail Khasanov Who Lost His Leg After Aircraft Run Over Shared The Experience, Won't File Legal Claims Against The Commander.

In May this year, at the Yekaterinburg airport (SVX/USSS), an aircraft of the Russian Ural Airlines ran over an employee in the Apron. According to sources, the technician was near the plane's landing gear before taxiing, when the emergency occurred.

“While he continued to check the condition of the aircraft, the pilot of the Yekaterinburg-Bishkek flight did not wait for the permission signal and began to move, as a result of which the man ended up under the wheels of the airliner.”

The 22-year-old Ural Airlines technician Rail Khasanov, who got his leg amputated after being run over by an Airbus narrow body plane, is now preparing for a prosthetic. 

E1.RU team talked to him at the rehabilitation center where he is undergoing rehabilitation. Rail shared his experience on the accident and how he came to his senses and why he dropped his claims against the pilot.

The accident happened to the technician on May 19th this year at around 6AM, when Rail was preparing the push back sequence of the plane during departure, as he was standing infront of the nose landing gear, and disconnecting the headset cable from the intercom, used to communicate with the crew.

To his shock, the aircraft started to move. The aircraft commander (who acted as the pilot) must have forgotten that the technician was still under the nose section of the aircraft, and he failed to inform the technician about release of parking brakes.

The Airbus A320 aircraft, weighing about 70 tons, ran over the young man's leg with its nose landing gear wheels. Though his life was saved, his leg was amputated and he became disabled.

While E1.RU team team was taking the interview, it was found that Rail is originally from Chelyabinsk, he studied to be an aircraft electrical engineer at the Troitsk Aviation College. He managed to work at Koltsovo Airport for a year and a half before the emergency.

Source: Dmitry Kriskovets / E1.RU

On the moment, when accident took place, Rail said,

"I remember everything perfectly: a huge wheel rolled along my leg and stopped. In the first seconds I thought it was a nightmare, but I couldn’t wake up. I didn’t feel any pain, probably because of the shock, although I felt the bones bursting."

Rail recalled the horrifying minutes of after the accident,

"The paramedics arrived, applied a tourniquet, and called an ambulance. I was so conscious that while I was lying under the plane for seven minutes, I managed to write to my mother on VK: "Mom, a plane ran over me."

"Then I wanted to sleep, I was very thirsty. This was due to blood loss. In the ambulance, I managed to tell them what had happened, and they put me into a medically induced coma. They explained to me that my heart could not handle that amount of adrenaline."

On the accident day, Rail's mother came to know about the accident at eight in the morning. Rail's elder brother came to know about the development, from the news. He, together with a friend, rushed by car from Chelyabinsk to Yekaterinburg, to the hospital, where Rail was admitted.

Source: Dmitry Kriskovets / E1.RU

Remembering the begining of the Hospital admission, Rail said,

"I woke up, looked around: it didn’t look like paradise, — Rail laughs. — I realized that I was in intensive care. My mother was nearby."

"I didn’t panic, I already understood under the plane that it was all over for my leg, I wouldn’t have a leg, I didn’t have any hope. But already in intensive care I was more alive than anyone else, I was chatting, talking."

The Rosaviatsia commission came to the conclusion that the cause of the emergency was the commander's violation of safety regulations.

The crew was suspended from flying for a while, but after the investigation was completed, they were allowed to work again - they reported that the pilots had undergone simulator training and testing by a psychologist.

Rail also said that, while he was still in intensive care, the commander came to the hospital, asked about his condition, whether he would survive ? Rail was shocked about the accident and said,

"In general, I don’t understand how you can forget about a person you spoke to literally a minute ago (on the intercom.)"

" It should be like this: the engine is started, the tractor leaves, they must report to the technician: all systems are normal. The technician switches off, then moves to a safe distance, the commander must see him, or rather, they must see each other — this is called visual control. After that, the commander has the right to move.

However, Rail said that he refused to file legal claims and charges against the commander. He says that they signed a pre-trial agreement, according to which he is obliged to pay two million rubles.

When he was asked if the money is enough for amputation and disability at 22 years old, Rail responded saying,

" What else can you do? He has a family, children, a mortgage, a loan, the guy explains. Who needs a person to be convicted of a criminal offense and then not be able to fly? His life would be ruined."

At this time, Rail is still an employee of Ural Airlines, and has been on sick leave since May. His disability has not yet been formalized: for this, he will need to undergo a commission after rehabilitation. For now, he moves around in a wheelchair, which was given to him by family friends.

Source: Amir Khasanov / Vk.com

Rail said to have received help from his colleagues,

"My colleagues helped me the most. Pilots, company employees: both those who knew me and those who didn’t, made arrangements, collected money, and gave it to my mother."

"It helped us out then. My father worked, earned money, and at first my mother came to me every day by car from Chelyabinsk. Then, when he came back to life, she went every other day or two. Huge sums were spent on gasoline then,  Rail recalls."

Ural Airlines assured that they are doing everything to provide the victim with full medical care.

“Insurance and corporate programs are in place to cover all expenses related to Rail’s treatment and subsequent rehabilitation,” the company’s press service said.

But, despite assurances of support, Rail told E1.RU team that he does not receive the same sick leave payments in full - although according to the law, in the event of an industrial injury not due to the employee's fault, all payments must be in the amount of 100% of the employee's salary.