How they filmed the most dangerous stunt of landing an airplane on a highway in "The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia"

According to director Eldar Ryazanov, there is not a single combined frame in the film "The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia" — all the tricks were "clean". So that the viewer does not have the slightest reason to say: "This is a scam, we were deceived here, this is all a movie technique!" — so the creators decided. And the most difficult trick was landing the plane on the highway. Until now, there has not been such a shot in the world cinema, made for real, not by combined filming.

The fact is that when a jetliner lands on the runway of an airfield, the impact force is such that the thickness of concrete or asphalt should be at least 70-80 centimeters. There are no highways with such a deep surface. Except strategic, secret ones. The passage was closed there, none of the civilian highways was suitable for landing a multi-ton Tu-134.

Source: dubikvit.livejournal.com

After considering all possible options, the creators decided to "make up" the airfield strip for the highway. Identification signs, searchlights and other aviation designations were removed from the runway. The painters drew white lines on the concrete, which are usually drawn on motorways.

Trees were planted along the strip, traffic lights, kiosks, a barrel of kvass were installed, as well as a sign "Moscow — 140 km". But the main thing was to land the plane among the traveling cars. Which pilot will decide to do this?

The stunt was filmed at the Ulyanovsk airfield, at the school of civil aviation pilots. The deputy head of the school Ivan Tarashchan suggested: "Take a letter from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, in which I will be allowed to fly in violation of the instructions, and I will perform the trick." But when the filmmakers mentioned this at the ministry, they simply did not talk to them. "It's deadly dangerous! It is forbidden!" they categorically stated there. No one wanted to take the risk. There was no madman among the heads of civil aviation. So Ryazanov and the company arrived in Ulyanovsk without a letter from the ministry.

Pilot Ivan Tarashchan at first flatly refused to fulfill the request — to land the plane on the runway on which cars will drive. But somewhere in the depths of his soul, the wonderful pilot wanted to perform a trick that no one had ever performed before. Realizing the huge responsibility that lies on him, he demanded: "Cars are only passenger cars, only pilots are driving: in this emergency situation it will be easier for them to navigate instantly and accurately."

They called all the pilots who have personal cars and "mobilized" them for filming. Passenger cars were running towards each other along the edges of the runway, and Tarashchan flawlessly landed a giant airliner. In the press, sometimes there is the fact that the trick was filmed six takes, and all six times Tarashan flawlessly planted the car. But it is unlikely that the Italian producers, who saved on everything, allocated funds for six takeoffs of the airliner. And the complexity, the danger of the trick itself excludes the possibility of repeating it six times.

Then, in the film, there were shots of the Tu-134 driving along the highway, cars scurrying under its wings, overtaking, the plane passing along the street of the town. These passages were filmed on the reserve strip of the airfield, where the decorations of houses were built, traffic lights were installed. People were hurrying along the sidewalks, children were running, there was a queue for kvass. And in all this natural street hustle, the giant plane looked like an independent, good-natured and funny giant among the midgets — cars and people.