Jamie Doran - Starman - The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin

Dyemchuk’s worst moment actually came two days after the crash, when he was driving a distraught Valentina Gagarina away from the hospital after her operation. Thoughtlessly he let slip some comment or other about recovering Gagarin’s body. ‘She was hysterical. She didn’t know. She thought he was found intact, or at least that the majority of body parts were found. Of course men understand very well what happens in an explosion, but how could women know about these things? She didn’t realize they were blown to pieces. Because of my naïvety, I told her. Perhaps a bitter truth is better than a sweet lie.’

Under conditions of the greatest security, Leonov, Kamanin and other colleagues were asked to attempt an identification of the two dead pilots’ body fragments. Leonov says, ‘When they showed me part of a neck, I said, “That is Gagarin.” Why? Because of a birthmark. On Saturday we were at the barber’s shop at the Yusnost Hotel. There was a barber, Igor Khoklov, who liked Yura very much, and he always cut his hair. I saw the birthmark, about three millimetres across, and I said, “Igor, be careful. Don’t cut it off.” So I knew when I saw it that we could stop searching. We wouldn’t find Gagarin out there somewhere. He was here.’

Meanwhile, one of the most intensive air-accident investigations in Soviet history was initiated. Despite the very wide scattering of wreckage, 95 per cent of the MiG-15 was recovered for analysis over the next fortnight. Even while this painstaking recovery was being carried out, fragments of heart and muscle tissue from the pilots’ shattered bodies were sent off for chemical analysis.

A standard sequence of biochemical tests was performed on the remains of all Soviet military pilots killed in accidents. Lactic-acid levels in muscle tissues yielded clues to a pilot’s physical condition at the time of a crash. High levels of acid suggested tightly flexed muscles and a thoroughly alert pilot. Low levels indicated a relaxed state, perhaps a result of unconsciousness brought on by extreme g-forces. In such a case the accident investigation was fairly straightforward. The pilot could be deemed responsible for the crash, but his honour was protected. Another possibility, suggested by intermediate lactic-acid levels, was that tiredness might have caused the pilot’s attention to wander; in which case the investigation was widened to include his overall workload and career. The worst possibility was alcohol. If a pilot was found to have been drunk in charge of his aircraft, his reputation could not possibly be redeemed. The chemical tests searched for traces of alcohol as well as lactic acid.

Immediately after Gagarin’s and Serugin’s crash a rumour spread that they had indeed been drunk. This story is still put about today. [4] Leskov, Sergei, ‘The Mystery of Gagarin’s Death’, Izvestia , March 28, 1996. They went to a fiftieth birthday party for a colleague the night before their flight, and partied hard and long. Taissia Serugina utterly rejects this idea. ‘The night before the flight my husband went to bed at ten. I asked him, “Why are you going to bed so early?” He said, “Tomorrow I have to test Yura, so I want to be in good shape.” In the morning he left for work in a good mood. He said, “It’ll be a good day today.” But a tragedy occurred.’

Taissia admits that a party did take place prior to the crash, but two nights before. ‘On Monday there was a celebration in Star City for a colleague’s fiftieth birthday. On Tuesday my husband was working as normal. On Wednesday Yura was due to fly. That’s why, on Tuesday evening, my husband told me he’d go to bed earlier.’ Taissia blames the rumours of drunkenness on Serugin’s immediate superior at the Chkalovsky airbase, General Kuznetsov, who treated Serugin with considerable discourtesy throughout their working relationship. ‘He would summon my husband to his office, then keep him waiting outside. Finally my husband would become exasperated. He would arrive, only to find that the man wouldn’t see him, so he’d turn around and drive back to the airfield.’

The problem between the two men appears to have been rivalry for rank within the Chkalovsky airbase. Gagarin and Serugin were very good friends, and Taissia Serugina is convinced that General Kuznetsov resented her husband’s closeness with the First Cosmonaut. ‘Yura said to my husband, “Don’t pay any attention to Kuznetsov, because very soon I’ll be Chief of Training and everything will work out.” Afterwards, Kuznetsov said that my husband was ill during that last flight, and he had a sick stomach or an ulcer. Never in his life did he complain about any illness. To say such foul things is absolute dishonesty.’

If Kuznetsov was using the phrases ‘ulcer’ or ‘sick stomach’ to suggest a hangover, then the hard evidence supports Taissia Serugina’s side of the argument. Samples from Gagarin’s and Serugin’s remains were sent to several institutes, and all of them reported similar results. Lactic-acid levels in the muscle tissues of both men were high, indicating that they were fully conscious and alert at the time of the crash. In fact, the levels suggested an intense physical battle with the MiG’s control yokes (what we would call ‘joysticks’). Meanwhile the alcohol levels were not found to be significant.

The aircraft wreckage revealed other clues. The yokes in the front and rear cockpit compartments were positioned as they should have been by pilots attempting to control a wayward aircraft. In theory, the crash could have dislodged the yokes entirely by chance, but the foot pedals also appeared to be in the right positions. Likewise for the throttle levers and flap controls. Despite the extreme damage to most of the cockpit’s mechanical components, there was strong evidence to suggest that both pilots fought hard to save the plane from a catastrophic spin. What’s more, they seemed to have been trying all the right manoeuvres, aiming for a subtle 20-degree tilt of the aircraft, rather than simply hauling at the yokes in thoughtless panic. [5] Ibid.

Alexei Leonov was a member of the crash investigation team. As he points out, ‘The plane was not in a dive when it hit the ground, but coming out of it. The plane didn’t crash nose-first, but almost flat on its belly.’ Its downward momentum was still sufficient to drive the engine block several metres into the ice-hardened earth; but the ‘pancake’ impact suggested that the two pilots may have been heart-breakingly close to levelling out when they ran out of sky.

The central question was: why had the plane lost control in the first place? Obviously it had not collided with another plane, otherwise it would have disintegrated in mid-air, scattering wreckage across a much larger area of ground. And there would have been signs of wreckage of the plane which it had collided with.

The crash seemed a puzzle. The investigators turned for answers to the service record of Gagarin’s and Serugin’s MiG. Perhaps the ageing jet had somehow failed, or lost power? The commission noted several concerns:

Shortcomings of the equipment and procedures used in the flight:

1 The MiG-15UTI aircraft was old, produced in 1956 and subject to two major overhauls. The residual service life of the structure was down to 30 per cent.

2 The engine, DA-450, was also produced in 1956 and subject to four overhauls. Residual service life was 30 per cent.

3 Installed on the aircraft were two 260-litre external tanks which were aerodynamically poor, reducing allowable g-loads by a factor of three.

4 The crew ejection system required the instructor to be the first to eject.

5 The height-to-ground altimeter was faulty. [6] Transcripted quotes from original commission reports from the papers of Sergei Belotserkovsky.