The real cause behind the plane crash that killed Yuri Gagarin in 1968.
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The real cause behind the plane crash that killed Yuri Gagarin in 1968.
Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar to the right or below. Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
The real cause behind the plane crash that killed Yuri Gagarin in 1968.
Anything is plausible, playing with fast jets at low altitude can be fairly dangerous, adding a second jet and wake turbulence could kill you, soviet politics and the death of another cosmonaut could also have killed Gargarin, the article said the two aircraft were thirty miles and I assume they meant thirty meters, I can see dare devils playing this close in the sky even under soviet rule, these pilots were expected to play hard, US or Soviet! I think the article is non-committal as to weather it was a Soviet hit job. Yuri was angry with Soviet rule over the death of his comrade being killed in unproven spacecraft, is that enough to get you killed in Russia, I don’t know!
Don’t over speculate. The article provides the first plausible explanation for the accident I’ve ever seen. And based on what I know of 1960s Soviet-era politics (which is quite a lot, based on two trips to Russia and one book), it is quite reasonable. As for your speculation that this might have been a hit job, there isn’t a chance in hell the Russians would have killed Gagarin. He was and continues to be a national hero of the highest order. He was also a very loyal Russian. He might have had disagreements with his higher-ups, but he never did anything to defy the society he lived in.
I agree!