Friday, Mar 29 2024
All Cities
Choose Your City
'In the West sometimes they think that Siberia is snow and nothing else. But there is such life and energy here!'
0

Flying boat crash mystery solved after 80 years: but who stole the cash?

By 0 and 0 and 0
26 September 2015

0

On board were three crew and nine passengers including two NKVD secret services agents who were guarding a 'large sum' of money. Picture: Russian Searching Movement

The bodies of three men and one woman were found on a remote slope above the Amur River in Khabarovsk region, it was announced. The Italian-made Savoia-Marchetti S.55 flying boat vanished on 26 June 1935 after taking off from Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinksy en route to Khabarovsk.

Lengthy searches at the time failed to find the seaplane or any survivors, although because the incident was promptly classified by the Soviet authorities, full details did not emerge.

Map


Lazarev

The Italian-made Savoia-Marchetti S.55 flying boat vanished on 26 June 1935 after taking off from Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinksy en route to Khabarovsk to be found near Lazarev village. Pictures: The Siberian Times, Russian Searching Movement

On board were three crew and nine passengers including two NKVD secret services agents who were guarding a 'large sum' of money. Two million Soviet roubles at 1935 prices was worth around $2.26 million US dollars. 

Members of a search group which found the wreckage after an expedition indicated that there was no money at the site, presumably having been ransacked by treasure hunters who - plainly - had not reported earlier finding the stricken seaplane. For years there have been rumours about the Savoia-Marchetti, including claims the plane was sabotaged. 

Flying boat crash


Flying boat crash


Flying boat crash

Members of a search group which found the wreckage after an expedition indicated that there was no money at the site. Pictures: Russian Searching Movement

Wreckage suspected to be from the 1935 crash was spotted by loggers nine years ago, but it has taken until now to organise for the Russia Search Movement to reach the site deep in the taiga in a region the size of the country of Turkey.

The NGO speculated that the pilot had been seeking to follow the river in poor weather when he hit a hillside. 'Probably the pilot noticed too late  a steep slope, tried to turn left to gain altitude, but his airspeed was not enough,' said a searcher. The plane crashed around 1 hour 15 minutes into a 5 hour 20 minutes flight.

Flying boat crash


Flying boat crash

'Probably the pilot noticed too late  a steep slope, tried to turn left to gain altitude, but his airspeed was not enough.' Pictures: Russian Searching Movement

'The passengers were still lying where they fell, thrown out of the wooden cabins of the plane along with the remains of the seating and seat belts. Around them lay their personal items,' said the Russia Search Movement. There were no reports of cash being found at the site. 

Comments (3)

Interesting article. I would be interested to talk further withe the reporter who wrote this I am currently making a documentary about mysteries.

Can anyone out me in touch?

Thanks
Lorne Kramer, Bristol UK
01/07/2019 21:49
1
0
For the lucky trekkers who stumbled upon the case, assuming it wasn't a couple of decades later and it had rotted away, They probably would have moved away from that town on the Siberian west coast as spending large sums there would have raised suspicion. $2.2m what a great find. Siberia would be one of the best places for treasure plane to stay lost from search parties.
Sam, Brisbane
14/11/2018 10:38
1
0
someone for sure got lucky. and they were clever enough to keep their mouths shut. and spent the money wisely....
Benedikt, Moscow,Russia
26/09/2015 23:52
5
1
1

Add your comment

We welcome a healthy debate, but do not accept offensive or abusive comments. Please also read 'Siberian Times' Privacy Policy

Name

Town/Country

Add your comments

The views expressed in the comments above are those of our readers. 'Siberian Times' reserves the right to pre-moderate some comments.

Control code*

Type the code

* obligatory


News

Business

The Bank of Russia official exchange rates of foreign currencies
EUR99.71USD92.26GBP116.52Other...