Japanese Buys Plane W. German Flew Into Moscow
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FRANKFURT, West Germany — A Japanese businessman has bought the single-engine Cessna airplane Mathias Rust flew into Red Square last year, it was reported today.
The West German, then 19, evaded sophisticated anti-aircraft detection systems when he landed near the Kremlin on May 28, 1987, causing a shake-up of the Soviet military command. The Soviets released Rust on Aug. 3 after 15 months in prison.
The airplane the Hamburg amateur pilot used for his flight has been purchased by a Japanese businessman and will be transported to Japan, the ZDF television network reported. It did not give the buyer’s name or the price paid.
After the plane was returned to Germany, Azuma Royal, a Munich cosmetics firm, bought it for a reported $81,000 from the owner, a pilots’ club near Hamburg.
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