Conspiracy Theory Denied in Red Square Landing : German Pilot Acted Alone, Parents Say

MOSCOW — The parents of West German pilot Mathias Rust were quoted in a Soviet newspaper Wednesday as denying that their 19-year-old son acted as part of a conspiracy when he penetrated Soviet airspace and landed his single-engine plane in Red Square.

The Russian-language edition of Moscow News said it interviewed Karl-Heinz and Monika Rust at their home in West Germany, not far from Hamburg, after they saw Mathias in Lefortovo Prison here.

“Mathias acted alone,” Monika Rust was quoted as saying. “He told us that he wanted to undertake a peace mission.” Her husband agreed, according to the newspaper, which quoted him as saying: “We are absolutely certain. He (Mathias) definitely had no accomplices.”

Astonished the World

Young Rust, taking off from Helsinki, flew a Cessna 172 with extra fuel tanks from Helsinki, across the heavily guarded Soviet border, and astonished the world by landing the plane close to St. Basil’s Cathedral and taxiing almost to the gate of the Kremlin.

Ever since his unorthodox arrival on May 28, however, he has been imprisoned while Soviet authorities investigated to see whether he had any help in his daring act.

Soviet sources said that his landing on the day set aside for honoring KGB border guards was a suspicious circumstance that may not have been a coincidence.

In addition, the sources added, Rust’s trip coincided with a decision by a West German diplomat to cut short his vacation and return to Moscow ahead of schedule, adding to Soviet suspicions that the diplomat’s moves were tied in with the flight.

The report in Moscow News by staff writer Vladimir Markov was the first detailed account by Rust’s parents on what they knew of their son’s action.

While in Moscow, where they met twice with their son and were closeted for two hours with the Soviet investigator handling the case, the Rusts kept silent. They have agreed to sell their story to Stern, a West German magazine.

But the Soviet publication quoted Monika Rust as saying that she gave the interview in hopes that it would help her son and interest Soviet readers who she felt were ready to forgive Mathias for his deed.

Under Soviet law, the young pilot could be sentenced to 10 years in prison, and he also could be punished under West German law for landing his plane in a manner that could have endangered human life.

The Rusts were quoted as saying they helped to finance the trip, providing their son with 1,000 West German marks (about $555) to supplement his savings.

The pilot’s father said he helped his son prepare for flying to the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway and Finland and returning to Hamburg.

“We only knew the route that he had planned to follow during his holidays,” the father was quoted as saying. “We worked on it together at home. We knew nothing else. From talking with Mathias in Moscow, we realized that he did not want to worry us.”

Parents Upset

Mathias Rust’s mother said she and her husband were very upset when they heard that their son had landed in Moscow, just outside the Kremlin Wall, instead of following his stated route.

“We understood that you can’t just violate Soviet airspace,” she was quoted as saying. “If we had known of our son’s plan beforehand, we would have tried to talk him out of flying to Moscow.”

She said her son was being treated well in prison and was allowed to read books on physics, chemistry and astronomy. In addition, Moscow News reported, young Rust received a German-Russian phrase book to help acquaint him with the language.