Collision over Lake Constance: how an Ossetian took revenge on a Swiss air traffic controller. Vitaly Kaloev, who avenged the family killed in a plane crash: Even if Schwarzenegger shows me in the film as a savage with a knife, I won’t worry Vitaly Kaloev what time

Sixteen years ago, a terrible plane crash occurred in the skies over Germany, which claimed the lives of 71 people - 52 children and 19 adults. These were passengers and crew of a Russian Tu-154 aircraft and a Boeing 757 cargo plane. On the night of July 1–2, 2002, aircraft collided in Germany due to an error by Swiss air traffic controllers.

How the Tu-154 collided with the Boeing 757

Tu‑154 of the Bashkir Airlines company was operating a charter flight from Moscow to Barcelona, ​​a cargo Boeing‑757 of the international air transportation company DHL was flying from Italian Bergamo to Brussels. On board the Tu-154 there were 12 crew members and 57 passengers - 52 children and five adults. The children were flying to Spain on vacation. They were given a voucher by the UNESCO Committee of Bashkiria for their excellent studies.

On the plane was a family from Vladikavkaz - Svetlana Kaloyeva with 10-year-old Kostya and four-year-old Diana. They were heading to the head of the family, architect Vitaly Kaloev, who worked in Barcelona under a contract.

Colliding with a cargo plane, the Tu-154 broke into several parts in the air. They fell in the vicinity of the city of Uberlingen (federal state of Baden-Württemberg). The debris was scattered over a radius of 40 square kilometers. Rescuers searched for the bodies of the victims for a week, finding them in fields, next to buildings and on the side of roads.

The tragedy occurred a few minutes after German air traffic controllers handed over the escort of the Russian aircraft to their colleagues from Switzerland, who were located at the SkyGuide air control center operating at Zurich-Kloten Airport.

Dispatcher Peter Nielsen's fault

On that fateful night, only one dispatcher was on duty at work - Peter Nielsen, despite the fact that according to the rules there should have been two. The Dane ordered the Tu-154 crew to descend, while the airliners approaching each other no longer had the opportunity to occupy safe echelons.

Later, the media learned that the main equipment for telephone communication and automatic notification of center personnel about dangerous proximity of aircraft was turned off. The main and backup phone lines were not working. The air traffic controller in Karlsruhe, Germany, drew attention to the dangerous approach of the planes. The man tried to call 11 times, but to no avail.

At first, Nielsen continued to work after the disaster, but then SkyGuide fired him.

Kaloev's revenge: more than 20 stab wounds

Heartbroken Vitaly Kaloev, who was waiting for his family in Spain, was one of the first to arrive in Germany, to the site of the plane crash. At first, the special services did not want to let him into the tragedy zone, but agreed when they learned that he agreed to search for the bodies of the dead with them. As a result, in the forest, Kaloev found a pearl necklace that belonged to his daughter Diana. To the surprise of the rescuers, the girl’s body was almost undamaged. Later, the bodies of his son and wife, disfigured by the disaster, would be discovered.

Having learned from journalists about the fault of the dispatcher in the disaster, Kaloev many times persistently made attempts to talk with the airline management. He asked the same question regarding the extent of Nielsen's guilt in what happened. It is known that the director of the company was very scared of the “Russian with a beard.”

Then Kaloev decided to talk directly with the Dane. He asked Skyguide to facilitate this meeting. At first they gave consent, but then they flatly refused and did not explain the reasons for this. During the mourning events dedicated to the anniversary of the tragedy, Kaloev again approached the leaders of the Swiss company, but nevertheless they refused to answer him.

On February 24, 2004, a Russian killed Nielsen in his home in the Zurich suburb of Kloten. Kaloev came to the dispatcher’s house to show him photographs of his dead wife and children. He wanted the man to repent of what he had done. But Nielsen pushed him away, causing the photographs to fall to the ground. Kaloev lost control of himself and inflicted more than 20 knife wounds on the dispatcher, from which he died. Nielsen is survived by his wife and three children.

Kaloev's punishment

Swiss police quickly found the Danish killer. A tip was sent out to a man of oriental appearance who was wearing a black coat and trousers of the same color. Kaloyev was found nearby at a local hotel. During interrogation, he told how he found out Nilsen’s address and what happened in his apartment. According to him, he entered the dispatcher’s house and showed him the photographs. And what happened next, the grief-stricken father and husband did not remember. He didn’t tell the investigator anything else.

It was decided to place him in a psychiatric clinic for examination. Experts found him sane, and in October 2005 the court sentenced him to eight years in prison. Kaloev served his sentence in a Swiss prison. Meanwhile, already in the fall of 2007, the Supreme Court of Switzerland decided to release him from punishment for exemplary behavior. Kaloev returned to his homeland in North Ossetia, where he was appointed deputy minister of architecture and construction of the republic.

Results of the investigation, SkyGuide apology

In the spring of 2004, German authorities released a conclusion based on the results of the investigation into the disaster.

Experts have come to the conclusion that Swiss air traffic controllers are to blame for the collision between the Bashkir Airlines Tu-154 and a Boeing cargo plane. The control center in Zurich did not immediately notice the danger of two aircraft converging on the same flight level. As a result, the Tu-154 pilots followed the dispatcher’s command to descend, while the on-board flight safety system required them to urgently gain altitude.

Only after the expert report was published did SkyGuide admit its mistakes. Two years after the disaster, director Alain Rossier apologized to the families of the victims. On May 19, 2004, then-Swiss President Joseph Deiss sent his counterpart Vladimir Putin an official letter of apology for the plane crash.

Based on the tragedy over Lake Constance, “Aftermath” was released in the United States in 2017 (the first title was “478”) with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role.

On Thursday, September 20, there will be a press screening of the feature film “Unforgiven” directed by Sarik Andreasyan about the plane crash over Lake Constance. Architect Vitaly Kaloev was played by a famous Russian actor in the social drama

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Vitaly Kaloev is a seemingly ordinary person, a Soviet architect and builder. But the event that occurred on July 1, 2002, radically changed the man’s life, completely depriving it of meaning.

In a plane crash, Vitaly Konstantinovich lost his wife and two children. The grief-stricken father and loving husband decided to punish the dispatcher Peter Nielsen who was responsible for the tragedy. This story has acquired a global scale: Vitaly’s act is talked about not only in Russia, but also in other countries.

A former architect from Vladikavkaz, who lost his entire family in a plane crash and was later convicted of murdering a Swiss airline dispatcher, has married for the second time.

Vitaly Kaloev, today, new family: about personal

According to the memoirs of Yuri, Vitaly’s brother, the younger Kaloev was in no hurry to get married. Konstantin Kambolatovich dreamed of his son getting married and even raised four bulls as a holiday gift, but Vitaly first wanted to get on his feet and then start a family to provide for his wife and children.

Kaloev met his future bride, Svetlana Gagievskaya, at a bank where she worked as a director.

In 1991, in the winter, the lovers got married, there was a large-scale celebration in the Kaloev family: Vitaly finally got married, and even the relatives liked the bride. The couple had two children: son Kostya in 1991 and daughter Diana in 1998.

The Kaloyev family lived amicably; the man still had home footage of happy times when everyone was smiling.

Vitaly Kaloev, today, new family: when, what happened?

Kaloyev's first wife and their two children died in a plane crash in 2002. Two planes collided over Lake Constance on the border of Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

The plane was flying to Barcelona, ​​almost all the passengers on board were children who received free trips to Spain from the state for good studies and victories at the Olympics. Therefore, the company decided to sell off the remaining eight seats: there were 71 people on board the plane.

The airliner flew over Germany late at night; the private Swiss company Skyguide was managing the flights. At the time of the tragedy, 2 people were working in the control room, one of whom was away for a break. 34-year-old Peter Nielsen had to independently cope with two remote controls and give commands to the pilots.

Some of the equipment in the control room was turned off, and the telephone connection did not work. Peter Nielsen noticed late that the Boeing, which was flying to Brussels, was on the same flight level with the Tu-154 aircraft of Bashkir Airlines. Peter tried to correct the situation and gave orders for flight 2937 to descend. At the same time, the TCAS electronic automatic system gave the same command to the Boeing to descend.

The pilots of Flight 611 tried to inform Nielsen that they had complied with the TCAS command, but the air traffic controller was giving instructions to another crew and listened to the message from the Boeing command.

The planes collided at right angles over Lake Constance, near the town of Iberlingen in Germany on July 1, 2002 at 21:35. All people on board both crews were killed.

In 2004, Vitaly Kaloev killed Skyguide airline dispatcher Peter Nielsen, whom he considered responsible for the plane crash.

Kaloev himself actually admitted his guilt. The court sentenced the Russian to 8 years in prison, but in November 2007 Kaloyev was released early.

Vitaly Kaloev, today, new family: after the tragedy

After the two planes collided, lawsuits began between the airlines.

Bashkir Airlines filed a lawsuit against the Federal Republic of Germany for using the services of foreign commercial organizations, and against Skyguide for employee negligence and equipment failure.

During the investigation, Peter Nielsen was not fired and continued to perform his job duties.

Winterthur, the insurer of the Swiss airline, paid compensation to the relatives of the victims in the amount of $150 thousand.

After the incident, Vitaly Kaloev lost the meaning of life, which was family. The grief-stricken father spent almost every day at the cemetery. Work lost its meaning for him.

The only thing Vitaly saw as a goal for himself was ordinary human apologies and recognition of his guilt by Peter Nielsen, who, according to the man, was to blame for the tragedy that occurred. The dispatcher got away with only a fine and continued to work for Skyguide, living a normal life with his wife and small children.

In the summer of 2003, Vitaly came to Skyguide in search of justice. The man hoped to wait for an apology for his broken life. According to the recollections of the director of the Swiss organization Allen Rosier, Vitaly behaved excitedly, constantly asking the dispatchers whether Nielsen was to blame for the incident. He also sought a meeting with Peter, who was working that day, but was refused.

On February 24, 2004, Nilsen died from 12 stab wounds on the threshold of his own home in the presence of his family. Kaloev did not admit to what he had done, but he also did not deny his guilt, because due to clouding of his mind, he does not remember what happened that day.

A Swiss court sentenced Kaloyev to 8 years in prison, proving that he killed the dispatcher. When Vitaly Konstantinovich was serving his sentence, letters from all over the world arrived in prison in his name from unknown people who expressed condolences to the prisoner. There were so many messages that they were counted by weight. Over the course of 2 years, about 20 kg of letters accumulated, which the architect took away after his release.

In the fall of 2008, Vitaly was released early for good behavior. In Russia this man was greeted as a real hero. Kaloev admits: he was pleased that hundreds of people supported him, but he himself does not consider himself a hero and does not want to be pitied.

Russian cinema could not ignore the story of Vitaly Kaloev. Sarik Andreasyan became the director of the drama “Unforgiven”, in which the main character was presented on the screen by Dmitry Nagiyev. The premiere took place on September 27, 2018. The leading actor himself considers this work the best in his creative career.

Vitaly Kaloev, today, new family: new family

After his release, Vitaly managed to improve his personal life.

The man found new love and married for the second time in 2012. His wife was Irina Dzarasova, an engineer at Sevkavkazenergo OJSC. Only close relatives of the newlyweds were present at the wedding.

Now Kaloev and his wife live in the house that Vitaly built for his first family. This is a large building with many rooms, stucco molding made in the national style. The architect built the mansion with the hope that his children and grandchildren would live here.

Kaloev did not hide the fact that he got married again, but he did not talk about it widely either.

Vitaly Kaloev said that his new wife’s name is Irina and that the wedding took place according to the Ossetian rite.

“If there was an Ossetian wedding, then that’s it. And the registry office is some kind of piece of paper. You go, put a stamp and that’s it. All our relatives gather at our wedding. Everyone already knows. This is the registry office for us... He didn’t get down on his knees. I said that I want to start a family. Do you want it or not? In a simple way."

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In 2002, two planes collided over the German Lake Constance near the city of Uberlingen on the night of July 1-2: a passenger Tu-154 of Bashkir Airlines and a postal Boeing 757 of an American airline. 72 people died, including 52 children from the Republic of Bashkiria, who, according to UNESCO, were recognized as the best in their studies and received a two-week vacation in Spain as a gift.

Architect Vitaly Kaloev, whose wife and two children died, stabbed air traffic controller Peter Nilsson more than 20 times, whom he considered the main culprit in the tragedy that happened 14 years ago.

Random flight

The family of Vitaly Kaloyev got on this flight by accident. They were flying to see him, their father, a famous architect who was finishing a project to build a house near Barcelona. In Moscow, Svetlana and her children had a transfer, but did not have the necessary tickets. They were offered to fly on a Bashkir Airlines plane that was flying to Barcelona.

Burnt trees

Residents of southern Germany saw in the night sky many multi-colored fireballs, bright sparks that quickly approached the lake and exploded. Some even thought that it was somehow connected with a UFO. But it was one of the worst and rarest aviation disasters of our time.

Plane debris fell on the border of Germany and Switzerland. Shrapnel and debris were scattered over a radius of 40 square kilometers. The trees were burned. For a whole week the police searched for the bodies of the victims. They found them in the field, near the school, near the roads.

Daughter's pearl necklace

Vitaly Kaloev, meanwhile, was waiting for his family in Barcelona. He was one of the first to come here to look for his relatives in the rural province of Southern Germany. The police did not want to let him into the scene of the tragedy, but they met him halfway when they learned that he would be looking for the dead with them.

In the forest, he found a torn pearl necklace of his four-year-old daughter Diana. To the surprise of the rescuers, his daughter’s body was practically undamaged. Search services will find the mutilated bodies of his wife Svetlana and ten-year-old son Konstantin much later.

Failed attempt to meet with dispatcher

After this, Vitaly approached the airline’s management several times and asked the same question regarding the degree of guilt of the dispatcher in the disaster that occurred over the lake. The director of the company was afraid of the “man with a beard”. The company management said nothing more about this. The aviation dispatcher remained at work in his place.

During this time, Vitaly went to the cemetery many times to visit the deceased family; in Vladikavkaz, he erected a monument to them.

Kaloev repeatedly appealed to the management of the Skyguide company with a request to meet with the dispatcher. At first they met him halfway, but then they refused without explanation. When mourning events dedicated to the anniversary of the tragedy took place, Kaloev again approached the leaders of the Swiss company, but did not receive any response from them.

Versions of the crash

Initially, a version widely spread in the media was that on that fateful night, aviation dispatcher Peter Nielsen was left alone in the room, while his comrades went to rest. He monitored the movements of the aircraft using two screens located at a distance of about a meter from each other. This was common practice in the company: only one operator remained to work at night. That night, the company's engineers turned off some of the equipment because they were carrying out preventative work on the radars.

According to investigators, on that day, by fatal accident, the air traffic controller did not correctly calculate the air corridor for two aircraft. They gained the same altitude and began a rapid approach, acting on commands from the ground. At this time, a third aircraft entered the airspace, diverting the controller's attention. There is interference in the radio communications. 22 months after the disaster, German investigators announced two main versions of the incident. Firstly, Peter Nielsen noticed the danger of a collision too late, and secondly, the Russian crew made a mistake by following the operator’s commands, and not their special on-board system warning of a dangerous approach. Investigators also pointed out to the company management that it was inadmissible for one operator to be on duty.

Air traffic controller killed

A year and a half later, this tragedy continued. In 2004, another terrible news spread across news agencies: on the threshold of his home on February 24, an air traffic controller, who was responsible for providing an air corridor for two aircraft, was killed. Forensic experts counted more than 20 stab wounds on the body of the attack victim, inflicted chaotically and with great force. The dispatcher died from his wounds on the threshold of his home. He left three children and a wife.

The 36-year-old dispatcher became the last, 72nd victim.

Mentally healthy

The police sent out a tip about a man of oriental appearance, dressed in black trousers and a black coat. Vitaly Kaloyev was found nearby in a local hotel. He was detained.

During the interrogation, he said that he found out the address of the dispatcher and rang his doorbell. When he opened it, he showed photographs of his children and wife. But then, according to Kaloev, he didn’t remember anything. Kaloyev did not tell the Swiss investigators anything else. He was placed for examination in a psychiatric clinic and, found sane, was given eight years in prison. The avenger served his term in a Swiss prison. Two years later, by decision of the Supreme Court of Switzerland, Kaloyev was released early for good behavior. He returned to his homeland in Ossetia, where he began working as Deputy Minister of Architecture and Construction of the Republic of North Ossetia.

The tragedy over Lake Constance became the main motive of the film by the American director "Aftermath", in which Arnold Schwarzenegger played by Vitaly Kaloev.

Little passengers quickly turned the TU-154 airliner into a noisy school bus. On board there are 9 crew members, 8 adults and 52 children. Having taken off from the earth, they will all remain in heaven forever. In the darkness of the night over Lake Constance at an altitude of 10,634 meters, a Boeing cargo plane crashed almost at a right angle into the fuselage of a Russian airliner. The impact tore the passenger plane into four pieces in the air. This disaster became the worst tragedy in the history of civil aviation of the 21st century. Everyone died: 69 Russians and two Boeing pilots. Total – 71 people. -72 people, 72 people.
Who was the seventy-second victim of the disaster? Air traffic controller Peter Nielsen stabbed to death? Or he himself, who buried himself alive along with his dead family?

I don't think time heals. When these memories come flooding in, the person does not put up with it. Not reconciled. For what? Do you understand that people constantly ask themselves this question? For what?
In one night, Vitaly Kaloev lost everything he loved and lived for. His wife Svetlana, ten-year-old son Kostya and his favorite, four-year-old Princess Diana. I don’t know, they say they live in heaven or live there somewhere else... Who knows. Maybe they live in heaven. He cursed the heavens and waited only for justice.
“It wouldn’t have gotten easier for me, it wouldn’t have gotten any easier at all.” But that attitude, that attitude... It all went beyond the scope. How they lied, how they got out.
Having lost faith in the law and ultimate justice, the man began his own investigation.
- These criminal commands were given by one person. Dispatcher. He could... He could have separated these planes. Could.
The investigation will establish: Peter Nielsen, who was on duty that night, really made a mistake.
- The person was not even suspended from work. Transferred to another job. And he worked quietly and came.

For a year and a half, Vitaly Kaloev stubbornly followed his trail.
- When I was there a year later, in this company, yes, I asked him then. I say: “Bring him, I want to look at him.” They didn't bring him. I didn’t hide the fact that I was going there. Do you understand? I didn’t hide the fact that I would come to him.
Peter Nielsen died on the threshold of his home, in front of his wife and three children.
- I didn’t tell him anything in German. I just looked at him and realized that a conversation with him would not work. He looked so arrogant, so self-satisfied, arrogant. And he’s like, you know: “Why are you knocking, why are you bothering me?”
- Did he even understand who you are?
- I understand, of course I understand. Understood. I understood right away.
The air traffic controller did not realize that he was looking into the eyes of his own death.
- I looked at him, he looked at me. Well, they probably looked at each other for about two minutes. Who is worth what?
- He asked what do you want?
- Yes, he understood, I’ll explain. He understood who I was. Why did I come?
Kaloev got even with the culprit in the death of his wife and children according to the laws of blood feud. - Maybe I regret one thing - that sometimes I was too strict with the children. That's about it. But no.
For 16 years now he has been carrying his own hell at the bottom of his soul. Remembering those terrible events, Vitaly Kaloev has to relive the tragedy of his entire life.
“I still haven’t come to terms with the fact that my children died. I still haven't come to terms with it. It's still very hard. Very.

Documentary makers are willing to make films about Kaloyev, but without Kaloyev. He does not communicate with journalists, because remembering is painful, and telling is unbearable.
- To be honest, you got me.
16 years of ringing silence and attempts to arrange a meeting.
- There’s nothing left to say. Everything that could be said has already been said.
Maybe because there were no agreed upon questions or a shooting plan, he agreed to let us into his life. To say out loud what I had been silent about for many years.
- So I should just relax, sit down, sit and cry? This is not for me. Every word he says is a verdict to himself. And this will be more than an interview. Public confession of the avenger and hermit Vitaly Kaloev. For the first time, Vitaly Kaloev will break the vow of silence that he kept for 16 years. What signs from above told Kaloyev’s family not to fly on that fateful flight? What actually happened a few minutes before the disaster? How did Vitaly Kaloev himself find, sentence and execute the culprit of the tragedy? What did Peter Nielsen manage to tell him before his death? Why didn’t Kaloev hide after the murder and why were his cellmates afraid of him? 12 fatal stabbings, 4 years in a Swiss prison and a lifelong recluse. Everything that remains behind the scenes of the monstrous drama.

For sixteen years, special correspondents tried to get on his tail and each time returned with nothing. It seemed that catching up with Kaloev was a utopia. He has parted ways with journalists forever, and has long been on his own path.
South of Russia, North Ossetia. The road, like a tireless mountain horse, climbs higher and higher between the rocks, closer to the sky. A white SUV slows down on the edge of a picturesque gorge.
- It’s very nice for our people.
- Yes?
- We are proud of you.
- What are you saying?
- Personal acquaintance!
In front of the camera lens, Vitaly Kaloev is noticeably embarrassed. The tall, stately man stoops a little and walks to his car with a bearish gait. - In these parts they believe that mountains show a person as he is. This is probably why Kaloev chose this place for a frank conversation - right at the abyss. We got up. Watched. From above. Well, that was when... In that life. The conversation doesn't go well. His look speaks louder than words. The past is reflected in the eyes. We fight too, too. We live. It becomes difficult to breathe. The thick mountain air, it seems, can be cut with a Caucasian dagger. In the oppressive silence, the assistant director's firecracker sounds like a pistol shot. He never did anything on command. Especially the director. The cameras work in silence, the gray-haired man is silent for a long time. Like before confession. What will you do? As long as we can, we will remember as long as we can... ...to bear this cross.
He has been carrying his cross alone for 16 years now, without complaining or discussing it with anyone. But I no longer have the strength to remain silent. Which means it's time to speak out.
- Actually, when I... ...and was going there, and... ...thought about it, and that’s it, I didn’t think that, for example... ...here are the journalists, and... ...the people, and... these are the ones who care about this the fate of the children, as it were, will stand up for protection, I didn’t think about it at all.
Looking ahead with faded eyes, he remembers his former life. Before the disaster.
- Do you dream about them?
- Well, this is personal already. This is not relevant to today’s conversation, as I say, this is personal. Whether I dream or not, it’s inside me, and it will remain so.
Wife Svetlana. Gives an interview to local television. Bank manager. They met when Kaloev came for a loan for his construction company.
- And you and your wife were together for a long time, how long did you live in general?
- Eleven years.
By Caucasian standards, they had a late marriage. Only after building the house, Kaloev decided, as they say, to give birth to a son and plant a tree.
- Why did you get married so late? Because I couldn’t support myself, how can I support my wife? If you can’t do it yourself, get married and... How? What would it look like? I received my salary. Minus bachelor's, minus income, minus that, and there was nothing left. So get married, and then what?
A naive woman’s question about love only evokes a smile from a descendant of the ancient Alans.
- Love is when you respect a person, when you appreciate him. When you worry about him. Here... You get bored. Well, all this is probably love together.
My heart was calm and calm. The son grew up to be a man. Just three seconds of video that will forever remain in your heart.
- What is the happiest day of your life?
- When children were born.
- Did you give names?
- I gave it to my son, yes, but my wife gave it to my daughter. I was strict with them. Like, using the carrot and stick method, let’s say. You know, children need to be raised right from birth. Right from birth, here he lies there in diapers, helpless, even then, then he needs to be told what a child should be, what a person should be, how he should behave.

Probably, you can’t compare the life of a child with anything, and... This is not only relevant, probably, here here, but also in Europe, too, probably everywhere in the world. That is why they are probably interested in this whole story so far.
Diana was 6 years younger than her brother. A late child for whom parents asked heaven. So that God would give him a daughter, Kaloev built a temple with his own money.
- And this sidewalk leads to the temple.
Driving an SUV, he smiles at his memories. It seems that at this moment Vitaly Konstantinovich is speaking not to us, but to himself.
- I swam too. When I left, I didn’t go to this gorge, but to another gorge. I took my son there every August, I forced him to swim too and I myself said: “shout!”
- Yes?
- Well, when the water is cold, you’re yelling.
He raised his son according to the laws of his ancestors - the ancient adats of the Ossetian people.
- How old have you been teaching him how to ride horses?
- Well, he was sitting on a horse too, yes, well, he was little. How old was he? 7 years, 8 years...
The successful entrepreneur believed that business will wait if the family wants to go on vacation to the mountains.
- When I was on vacation, we almost every year...
- With your wife?
- We went. With my wife and children too, yes, all the time.
In July 2002, Vitaly Konstantinovich invited his family to Spain. There he completed a large project and before returning he wanted to give the children a gift. We flew for the first time. We were happy. Joy turned to grief.

Fate warned him. Everything was against this trip to Barcelona. At first there were no tickets, and the wife was already unpacking her suitcases.
- I called these ticket offices and came across these tickets.
Kaloev’s mathematical mindset refuses to accept the further logic of events. By chance, by some miracle, the tickets purchased three hours before departure ended up on a flight with only children. By chance, absolutely by chance. Who knows? A man walked along the road, something will happen to him. We came across these tickets. That's all.
The fatal coincidences continued until the departure. The children were brought to the wrong airport. Their plane departed, but a new flight was allocated. When the plane rolled out onto the runway, it turned out that food had not been loaded on board. I had to return to the airport and spend another 15 minutes.
Before the Kaloevs registered, Diana got lost at the airport. When she was found, registration was already closed, but they were still put on the plane.

18:48 - Flight 2937 takes off from Moscow.
21:06 - after an intermediate landing in Bergamo, the cargo Boeing takes off. When both planes were over German territory, the movement of the planes in the sky was controlled by dispatchers from the private Swiss company Skyguide. - What they say is that the sky there is very saturated, that planes constantly fly there - this is all a lie too. It's all a lie. It was at that time that there were only 3 planes in the sky. 3 planes. These are the 2 planes that collided: Tu-154 and Boeing, one plane was landing in Germany. There is one small town there. So he went there to land, he landed the plane. It was as if the dispatchers couldn’t land him there, or the pilot himself couldn’t land.
Later, the investigation will establish that a few minutes before the disaster, one dispatcher went to bed. Peter Nielsen remained on duty.
The fact that he was alone, and the fact that he was alone, does not mean that he is not guilty. The fact that his partner went to rest or something doesn’t matter. Absolutely none.
It doesn’t matter to him whether it was a mistake by the heavenly office or an equipment failure in the control room. The only important thing is that the dispatcher Nielsen noticed the dangerous approach of the planes late.
- I don’t know the work of these dispatchers: how is their work organized or what, or what? But it doesn’t take much intelligence to separate 3 planes. Yes, and from his commands you can see what commands he gave, you can see from them that he was there on purpose or how deliberately he did all this.

Altitude 11 thousand meters, less than a minute before collision. At these moments, Vitaly Kaloev is in a supermarket paying for two chocolate bars for his daughter. Dispatcher Peter Nielsen gives the command to the TU-154 crew to descend. The automatic system for warning of dangerous approaches, on the contrary, requires you to gain altitude. Both planes went down. Kaloev gets into the car and drives off towards Barcelona airport.

21 hours 35 minutes and 32 seconds.
The Boeing's tail stabilizer cuts the fuselage of a passenger airliner in half, and the Russian plane breaks into four parts right in the air.
- I was there, I arrived even two hours before arrival. The schedule is all normal. Then it started: delay, delay. Then the flight disappeared from the board altogether.
Vitaly Kaloev drove away the vague chill of anxiety. Maybe the scoreboard is broken. Maybe a forced landing. You need to calm down and just wait.
“They didn’t know themselves, the airport itself didn’t know.” Until they check the information, no one will say. All this was clarified.
My hands don’t obey me and I can’t light a cigarette for a long time. Another two hours of waiting.
It seems to show that the plane will arrive on time, then there is some kind of delay, then in general... Of course, there was some kind of internal anxiety, but what could we do without it? How's that? A person cannot find a place for himself, how is it, what is there? Then they came out, and after the disaster, probably about two hours later, they said what had happened. He heard everything as if in a fog.
- We were invited, we came out, I don’t remember who came out. Well, some representative came out, the representative came out, and was called into a separate room. And then they said there.
He decides what to do instantly. We need to fly urgently! To Zurich, and then - no matter how, to the place where the plane crashed.
- What should I have done?

The Tu-154M, cut by the Boeing's tail stabilizer, broke into four parts in the air and fell to the ground. 71 people died.

The German town of Uberlingen, randomly taken shots. A man in a light shirt, who has turned gray during the night, resolutely walks beyond the cordon.
- Well, you see, let's just say they sent me on the wrong trail. I pulled away. They said, okay, if you insist, look somewhere in some square. We found some spare part from the plane. And they already took pictures from above from an airplane. Almost everyone knew there, criminologists, they worked there. They took photographs, noted what was what, how. And then they took the bodies. Well, I saw these bodies. I drove straight between them.
Through the fields sown with wheat, a man with a distraught look was looking for his wife and children.
- I drove next to my son. Next to my son. I probably didn't guess right. I don’t know, nothing told me that my son was lying here. They were not covered yet, there was nothing there at all. This operation, this rescue operation, was just unfolding when I was already there.
Fragments of bodies were scattered over tens of kilometers. Fruit and apple orchards became a mass grave for 71 people.
- This is a huge territory. They were scattered about ten kilometers. And this entire territory, as well as parts of the plane, the territory had to be cordoned off. Then this entire area had to be combed, just like that. All rescuers and police officers have been gathered from almost the entire state of Baden-Württemberg for now - this is the time needed.
On the second day of the search, the police showed Kaloyev the place where his daughter died. Behind the scenes, he said: “I put my hands on the ground - I tried to understand where the soul remained: in this place, in the ground, or flew away.”
- These were my daughter’s beads. Daughter's beads. Here is the place where she fell, there I put my hands and felt something like that... I picked it up - a bead. I started looking further - second, third, fourth.
His little Princess Diana seemed to be asleep, except for a large abrasion on her chin. White dress, flowers woven into her hair. The son and wife were buried in closed coffins. There were relatives. There were a lot of people.
- I don’t know how much, but it was a lot. I can not say exactly. Several thousand people. After the funeral, everything in the house remained as it was. On the children's beds there are photographs of children left forever as small children and a large portrait of his wife Svetlana.
- Why... They go there... And they look at photographs, and their bed is there, and they spend the night. We use this room, everything is as usual.
For many years he had had the same dream. -Say: “Daddy!” -Dad! -When his daughter called him, Kaloev got ready and went to her cemetery.
- It’s not hard, but I’m walking. I'm walking. Filming in a cemetery or somewhere is not the same. And in general, I would be the happiest person today if no one knew me and my family was alive.
At the site of Diana's death, residents of the town of Uberlingen erected a monument to all those who died in the disaster. Beads torn from the impact, spread over tens of meters.
- It’s not me, it’s already there... Here. I think they couldn’t have come up with a better idea, they are children after all. Torn beads... When they found out that I had found my daughter’s torn beads... Everyone knew there... When everything began to be arranged and decorated, they decided to make this monument to all children in the form of a life cut short at the site of the tragedy.

Broken string of pearls. Monument at the site of the plane crash, where the lives of many, including children, were cut short

It's only in TV series that men don't cry. They cry and remain men.
- They cry, of course they cry. Not for someone to see you, to be desired, right? And giving up is also weakness. This is also a weakness. No matter what kind of person you are, no matter what grief may happen to him, you must always hold on, you must control yourself.
After the death of his family, Vitaly Kaloev demanded only one thing from the Swiss company - justice.
- I was in Skyguide, we came there. I didn’t ask them to feel sorry for me. I demanded all this from them, and I strictly demanded all this from them. He demanded harshly and found out why they still behave this way. And he posed the questions so that they answered specifically, and did not go somewhere, something. They started to carry something, I stopped them, said: “I don’t need this. This is necessary. Tell me specifically in a few words - yes or no.”
For almost two years, Vitaly Kaloev has been knocking on the thresholds of Swiss authorities, but in response there is silence.
“It wouldn’t make me feel better if they apologized.” Each person must have a certain behavior, how he should behave. If they don’t consider me a person, then I need to force them to take this into account.
At first, he tried to force them to be taken into account solely by the law.
I forced them to admit their mistake, I forced them. Everyone who was present there, and there weren’t many of us, 3 or 4 people, all saw this and agreed that they were to blame.
Instead of sincere repentance, the Swiss offered Vitaly Kaloev substantial compensation - 60 thousand Swiss francs for his wife, 50 thousand for his son, another 50 for 4-year-old Diana.
- They offered compensation, in return we had to give a receipt that we renounce all rights to our children. That we forgot them, erased them from memory. I have this letter at home and in the criminal case.
Having received this letter, Vitaly Kaloev destroyed the furniture in his own house.
- I was raised in such a way that not everything is measured by money. Not everything is measured by money. Here. It is clear that everything has been transferred to commodity-money relations. They count everything, there, in francs, cents or something else, there, euros. But for me it didn’t matter at all what kind of compensation they provided, how much they would give, what they would give. The life of my children, my children, my family was more important to me, more important than any money, any money, any wealth. If they didn’t understand this, if they didn’t understand... Well, what to do then?
The air traffic controller's crime also went unpunished. He continued to work in the same place.
- His conscience did not torment him. Nothing bothered him. I slept peacefully, rejoiced, and rested. I did what I wanted. All these details, all these details, I didn’t come up with this, it was all for me during the investigation, during conversations with prosecutors...
In the two years after the death of his family, Vitaly Kaloev has not come to terms with the loss and injustice. He himself passed the sentence, he himself decided to carry it out. - All I wanted was to be given an address, that’s all. And what I said, that I need photographs, I want to publish them in the newspaper, or something... I said that... I didn’t say a word about the address at all. If I had said a word about the address, no one would have helped me then. Nobody would tell me anything. I just understood that if they gave me photographs, one hundred percent the address would be there.
Photos with the address of the air traffic controller responsible for his wife's death were obtained by private detectives. All that remained was to get to Zurich. Vitaly Kaloev bought a one-way ticket.
- I didn’t tell him anything in German. I just looked at him and realized that a conversation with him would not work. He looked so arrogant, so smug, so arrogant, so... And he, you know, looked like, why are you knocking, why are you bothering. I understand, of course I understand. I understood, I understood immediately.
Kaloev handed Peter Nielsen photographs of his son, daughter and wife. The air traffic controller waved it off, and the pictures fell to the ground.
- When the prosecutor’s office said that I left him no chance... On the contrary, he had much more chances than my family. I do not regret anything.
Vitaly Kaloev will tell you how he found, sentenced and executed the culprit of the terrible plane crash. What did air traffic controller Peter Nielsen manage to tell him before he died? Why didn't Kaloev run away after the murder? And why didn’t you stand in front of the judge when the verdict was announced? How was the avenger met in a Swiss prison? And why were his cellmates afraid of him?

He will never remove this stone from his soul. One tombstone for everyone with the same date of death - July 1, 2002.
In November 2007, Vitaly Kaloev appeared at the cemetery in front of television cameras for the first and only time. With a bouquet of daisies, chrysanthemums and your own misfortune. At the Ossetian cemetery there are dozens of journalists and, it seems, almost the entire Vladikavkaz. In the dead silence, only the muffled sobs of a hunched over man and the crackling of cameras can be heard. Since then, Vitaly Konstantinovich has been visiting his family at the cemetery only alone.
- If you started filming me there, I would simply think that I was somehow promoting myself or wanted to stick something out there, or something like that...
He has not parted with his loved ones since their death. Always and everywhere with him are photographs of his dead family.
- That's how long it's been - 15 years. You see, even now they have worn off, probably because I took them out often. And in prison they were with me too - these are the photographs. I was also young then.
My breath catches, there is a lump in my throat... At such moments, any words, even the most correct ones, are just an empty sound.
- All my tears have flowed out already. Well, let's finish it already, that's enough.
In memory of the dead, he declared war on the living.

2002, Geneva. Vitaly Kaloev demands to name those responsible for what happened.

It would not have become easier for me, it would not have become absolutely easier. But that attitude, their attitude towards everything that was happening - it went beyond the bounds. How they lied, how they got out, how they generally refused to meet with lawyers or anyone else, with relatives.
There were no culprits, he did not receive an apology. And then Kaloev himself decided to punish the dispatcher, on whose conscience this monstrous tragedy remained.
- I will say that I was even lucky that I found him there, because from the first of April he wanted to quit, move to another job, because he was not paid enough there, where he was transferred.
Having not achieved justice according to the law, Vitaly Kaloev remembered the ancient custom - blood for blood.
- It was difficult to find this house there, but I found it quite quickly. And there were two apartments there, but I didn’t know which apartment he lived in. I knocked on the first one, which was nearby, and a woman came out. Again the language barrier, I wrote on paper who I needed, and she showed me to the next door: look, he lives there. He opened it himself, as if he was waiting, he opened it instantly. I hadn't even finished knocking when the door opened.
- Well, what else is there to say about this? What happened, happened. I don't regret it. He had the opportunity to defend himself.
- But he didn’t, right?
- Why? Defended himself. How did you not defend yourself? Defended himself.
Forensic experts count 12 stab wounds on the body of Swiss air traffic controller Peter Nielsen.
- I explain everything to you very clearly. He had the opportunity to defend himself.
When it was all over, he didn't cover his tracks. He simply tossed the main piece of evidence against himself—a Swiss penknife—to the side. I walked to the hotel and began to wait. The police came only the next morning.
- I had the opportunity to leave. But I considered it beneath my dignity to run away. Why did I have to leave or run away? Or something? What would people say about me then, for example? God forbid, what would the children there think of me? Did their father get scared and run away? They might have thought so, probably. They say that there is some kind of life there. Either there is something, or somehow there is. So I thought about this, what would my children say if I ran away. They are worth more, my children, than running away from someone.

These are truly unique shots taken in a Swiss prison. Psychologists worked with Vitaly Kaloev, but the advice of European specialists seemed strange to a person from the Caucasus.
“They told me here, the bastards, that now I should feel better, because there are many like me.”
During the investigation, Vitaly Kaloev was silent; the evidence spoke for him.
- I spent 4 years in prison without two months. They gave me 8 years, eight years. I was not afraid of this trial. I didn’t even stand up for them when they suggested to me that the trial was over and I needed to stand up. I told them: “Who should get up? I don't consider them to be judges. There are no judges over me." They were confused. They consulted and said: “Okay, let him sit, no need to get up.” I didn’t understand: sit for 8 years or just sit down.
If it had been proven that this strange Russian committed premeditated murder, instead of eight years he would have received eighteen. Kaloev says he didn’t care. He did what he had to do.
- A prison is a prison, no matter what it is, no matter what cells there are, with a soft sofa or something. In any case, a prison is a prison. But what helped me? My children helped me withstand all this. Thinking about them helped me. Good mood!
This is the only recording made in prison. The older brother, Yuri Kaloev, came to Vitaly.
- How do you communicate with the staff here? Still, they speak German. -I taught them Russian already.
Behind bars, Vitaly Kaloev quickly gained authority among the Russian-speaking lads.
- There was a Moldavian, a Jew and two Georgians. One is normal and the other is abnormal. A drug addict, all yellow. He constantly extended his hands. I said: “Get your hands off”! I didn't shake anyone's hand at all. Because there are these... How do I know, he’s a pedophile, or he’s in prison for something else. You shake hands and then cut them off, or what? There was also one crest from western Ukraine.
- Did they know everything?
- Well, they knew, yes. Khokhol asked to be transferred to another prison because of me.
- And why?
- I always called him names, he went downhill, you know?
- Kostya’s classmates sent me letters for his birthday. “I would like to support you as a human being. It's not easy losing children. This is the most precious thing for us.”
Words have weight. Words that give hope are worth their weight in gold. During his four years in prison, he accumulated twenty kilograms of letters that he received from outside.
- Two years later these letters were given to me. When the regime was changed, the regime was changed, these letters were given to me. These letters were given to me. And when I was released almost 4 years later, they said that I could only take 15 kilograms of things - that’s all. And there were only 15 of these letters... there were more. I even threw away envelopes to meet this weight. And he left his things. Well, they seemed to take pity on me and gave me things.

At Moscow's Domodedovo airport, the Swiss prisoner was greeted with Caucasian hospitality. In the VIP room, the most respected people are the elders of the diaspora and relatives. Yuri Kaloev strangles his brother Vitaly in his arms.
- Don’t do that, you’ll break your back.
It's nice to be in your homeland. In his native republic, his release was awaited with special trepidation. For every Ossetian it is now a reason for pride and a special honor to invite Vitaly Kaloev to his table.
If Gagarin had been an Ossetian and had flown in, then no one would have given him anything except an honorary glass. We have nothing higher than this.
- I didn’t do anything special, I don’t even understand.
Then, as on the first day after the disaster, he still observed mourning and could not even imagine that he would have a new family. It seemed incredible at the time, but years later it will suddenly become true. But Vitaly Kaloev will carefully hide his new happiness from everyone.

How does Vitaly Kaloev live today? Has the avenger, who doomed himself to lifelong recluse, gotten married and is preparing to become a father again?

It was a long journey of 16 years along the very edge of the abyss. He himself does not fully understand what helped him not fall into the abyss after the tragedy. Perhaps some kind of inner core. And of course - relatives and friends.
- Hello! They said you are the most important owner of the mountain here.
- What’s his name, make a fire, they’re hungry. We’ll now drive through the gorge, about 30 minutes. We’ll come back... Tea... You have very fresh cheese. That's it, come on.
Let's drink to the big God, because everything is in the hands of the Almighty. And only he guides us, only he helps, only he makes us who we are.
The second toast is to St. George, the patron saint of all travelers.
The third is for the hero of the occasion. We always have a third toast for the reason for which we have gathered at this table.
Vitaly Kaloev didn’t exactly hide it, he just didn’t tell anyone yet. Irina is his new wife.
- If there was an Ossetian wedding, then that’s it. And the registry office is some kind of piece of paper. You go, put a stamp, and that’s it. When I got married for the first time, we didn’t have a registry office at all. When my son was born, so that a birth certificate would be issued for him, I went and they gave me these stamps, and that’s it. - All our relatives gather at our wedding. Everyone already knows, he’s already married, that’s it. -This is like a registry office for us. - Since such a wedding went on, I want details of how it happened. -I didn’t get down on my knees.
- Just “will you marry me?”
- Well, how? I said that I want to start a family. Do you want it or not?
It seems that he has already drunk his bitter cup of sorrow to the bottom, but at the bottom of his soul, of course, there remains a heavy lead sediment. I probably have what I deserve.
Friends raise their glasses to Vitaly, who, in their opinion, deserves happiness. - - Health to you, this is the most important thing. And we also really want Vitalik to have a little one. God grant that such a day also comes. For you.
- God willing.
He walked along the gorge alone, carrying a terrible past and grave sin on his shoulders. Life moves on. And my personal life even seems to be getting better. Years have passed since the tragedy over Lake Constance, but the pain has not subsided. And even the blood of the enemy could not wash it away. - Well, why divide it, the past, one life. I’m telling you, before everything was fine, and after this tragedy happened, a person already lives and thinks differently. As for everything that I did, it was already useless, for what?! The man tried... I will answer in the words of Ostrovsky: so that you would not be ashamed of the life you lived! It is most important. This is the most important thing, yes.

The most complete reconstruction of this terrible plane crash was made by the National Geographic channel as part of the series.

There is information about Vitaly Konstantinovich Kaloev and his fate after the death of his family in a plane crash