I regret what happened. I saw no other possibility to achieve my goal. It was not hooliganism.

However right after his final communication with traffic control he turned his plane to the east. Air traffic control presumed an emergency and a rescue effort was organized including a Finnish Border Guard patrol boat. " After being released from court he converted to Hinduism in 1996 to become engaged to a daughter of an Indian tea merchant.

The incident aided Mikhail Gorbachev in the implementation of his reforms (by removing numerous military officials opposed to him) and reduced the prestige of the Soviet military among the populace thus helping bring an end to the Cold War. An amateur pilot he flew from Finland to Moscow being tracked several times by Soviet air defence and interceptors. He landed on Vasilevsky Descent[where?] next to Red Square near the Kremlin in the capital of the Soviet Union.