Alexandr Zuev Former USSR Air Force captain Date of Birth: 17.07.1961 Country: USA

1. Biography of Alexander Zuyev
2. Early Life and Military Career
3. The Hijacking
4. Life in the United States
5. Tragic End

Biography of Alexander Zuyev

Alexander Zuyev was a former captain in the Soviet Air Force who gained notoriety for his defection to Turkey in 1989 by hijacking a MiG-29 fighter jet. He later sought political asylum in the United States.

Early Life and Military Career

Zuyev graduated from the prestigious Armavir Higher Military Aviation School in 1982 and served in a squadron of MiG-23 fighter jets. He was selected as one of the first pilots to be retrained on the new MiG-29, which allowed him to avoid deployment to the war in Afghanistan. Some reports suggest that he participated in the aircraft's military trials.

However, towards the end of the 1980s, Zuyev started experiencing problems in both his military career and personal life. In his book, he describes how he gradually became disillusioned with Soviet society and its system. The events in Tbilisi on April 9, 1989, were the final straw for him. At that time, Zuyev was stationed at the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment at the Mikhaylovka Air Base in Georgia. He contemplated leaving the armed forces but eventually made the decision to defect to the West by hijacking a state-of-the-art Soviet fighter jet.

The Hijacking

On the night of May 20, 1989, Zuyev, who was a first-class military pilot and the duty officer in charge of incoming and outgoing aircraft, announced to his fellow pilots and technicians that he had just become a father. To celebrate, he offered them a specially prepared cake laced with a high dose of sedatives. During the shift change, a mechanic took over without being able to wake up the other crew members. Zuyev attempted to disarm the mechanic but failed, resulting in a gunshot exchange that left both Zuyev and the mechanic injured. Despite his injuries, Zuyev managed to take off in one of the fighter jets that were already prepared for flight.

Zuyev flew the hijacked plane to Trabzon, Turkey, where his first words upon landing were, "Finally, I am an American!" He was tried in Turkey for the aircraft hijacking but was acquitted as the Turkish authorities deemed his actions to be politically motivated. The MiG-29 was quickly returned to the Soviet Union.

Life in the United States

Zuyev was granted political asylum in the United States and became a consultant for the US Air Force before the start of the military operation known as "Operation Desert Storm." In 1992, he co-authored a book with Malcolm McConnell about his escape and defection.

Tragic End

On June 10, 2001, Zuyev met a tragic end when he was involved in an aviation accident. He crashed in a Soviet Yak-52 training aircraft, 160 kilometers north of Seattle.