Wartime crash site discovered in St. Petersburg

Another Russian TV report

Here is another Russian TV report which gives an idea of the depth of the excavation as well as some close ups of parts of the wreckage and documentation, including pilot ID with a faded photo –
http://www.ntv.ru/video/1588002/

And other ones with some different material here – https://iz.ru/737872/video/samolet-vremen-vov-i-ostanki-letchika-nashli-na-stroike-v-peterburge

and here – https://www.1tv.ru/news/2018-04-28/344732-v_peterburge_nashli_oblomki_istrebitelya_vremen_velikoy_otechestvennoy_s_ostankami_letchika_na_bortu

the final report is interesting as it appears to include an extract from the previously mentioned book describing the incident that led to the loss of the aircraft and perhaps to have relatives at the site (I don’t speak Russian so am guessing somewhat?)

Steve.

There are a couple of Russian TV news reports about this here (the link is direct to the best of the 2 reports) – https://topspb.tv/news/2018/04/29/nikto-ne-zabyt-mig-3-najdennyj-v-rajone-ekspoforuma-byl-sbit-vo-vremya-istoricheskogo-boya/

I’ve included below a cleaned up ‘Google Translate’ Translation of the background website content that gives some context and detail to the aircraft and its pilot:-

1/. ‘Participants of the search team recover the wreckage of the MiG-3 plane lost during the Great Patriotic War.

The plane was at a depth of about three meters. In the cockpit was the body of the pilot. With him was a party card and a medal book. They have already managed to establish the identity of the deceased. Research has established, during his lifetime he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Medal “For Courage”. The pilot served in naval aviation.

The archive recorded that the crew of the fighter was killed on September 14, 1941. The pilots fought the Germans and did not return from the combat mission.

The recovery team are actively looking for relatives of the deceased.

The Aircraft of the Great Patriotic War was found near the building of the “ExpoForum” in the Pushkin district. Builders began to prepare a parking lot and accidentally stumbled upon the metal parts of the fuselage. Later it turned out that at depth lie larger fragments of the aircraft.
The plane and the remains of the pilot were found during the construction works in the area of ​​the ExpoForum exhibition complex.’

2/. ‘The MiG-3, released in June 1941, was shot down in a group air battle on September 14 of the same year in the airspace of the city of Uritsk (now the territory of the Avtovo district) and fell in the Pulkovo heights.

The pilot was considered missing. His identity was established by servicemen of a separate search battalion of the Air Defense Forces and the staff of the military commissariat of the city of Pushkin. This is a senior lieutenant Vasily Bukhreev, born in Moscow in 1914. His wife lived in Leningrad.

“The place of the fall of the plane will be declared a military burial with the installation of a monument, the pilot will be buried with the giving of military honors,” the press service of the ZVO reports.

Under the sappers, the engineers discovered the wreckage of an airplane from the times of the Great Patriotic War. The specialists of the separate search battalion are studying the find.

According to experts, it is possible that reconstruction (of the aircraft) will be possible to give a second life.
The correspondent Alexander Chuev will talk about the find.’

3/.’ The video shows how the searchers extract from the ground the wreckage of a military aircraft MIG-3. It is already known that it was shot down by German fighters in September 1941. The identity of the pilot is established – at the helm was a senior lieutenant Vasily Bukhteev.

VICTOR SOBOLEV, head of the special search group “Wings of the Motherland”:
“When we removed the body, unzipped the parachute, a purse was found in the side pocket of the flying overall. There were documents in the purse: a party ticket and an order book of the commander of the Red Army. During his lifetime, the pilot was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of War and a medal for courage. He was posthumously presented to the second order. “
This fighter fell into a story. He is described in the book “In the sight – the swastika.” Its author is another participant of the Great Patriotic War, a fighter pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union Igor Cabrov.

Brothers of the deceased in that air battle, Vasily Bukhteev, saw how their comrade was shot down. They knew where his plane fell.

VICTOR SOBOLEV, head of the special search group “Wings of the Motherland”:
“They went to the site and saw that the plane had gone deep into the ground. Since here it was already practically advanced, nobody was able to extract the body. Well, after the war, the landscape has already melted smoothly. “
Builders have got to the battle grave. Before the erection of the parking lot, sappers checked the place. The instruments showed a large metal object at a depth of three meters. Reaching the fuselage, the workers called for a search.

ALEXANDER CHUEV, correspondent:
“The details of the aircraft were neatly laid out. Here there are fragments of the cabin, there is an engine, next to it there is a propellor. We also found three machine guns. Here is a large-caliber machine gun OB. And next to two machine gun SHKAS. Now they will be handed over to the police, who will decide their fate. Maybe they will become museum exhibits, maybe they will just be destroyed. “
The pilot’s body was sent to a special storage facility. The search for descendants has already begun.

IGOR MUGINOV, Head of the Press Service of the ZVO:
“There will definitely be a monument or a commemorative sign. At the discretion of relatives, the burial will be done either here or at the cemetery. This is in case we find relatives. “
The plane, perhaps, will have a second life – experts explain. Several museums in St. Petersburg are engaged in the resurrection of just such machines. Using separate parts as a master they can recreate the image of the former military glory. ‘

Steve.

Interesting thought Junk Collector, don’t think that the Russians have restored a Spitfire yet.:)

If it piled into the ground there could be quite a bit of it depending on a few variables but pretty trashed, perhaps by restoration they mean conserving it, unless it’s a Spitfire then a few brass plates and it will be in the air in a few years

So they are going to restore it too. Wonder what’s left of it?