Mathias Rust

“I was sure my flight would open a door for Gorbachev to walk through.”

“I thought I could use an airplane to build an imaginary bridge between West and East to show that a lot of people in Europe wanted to improve relations between our worlds.”

“My landing was a great surprise for the Soviet guards. They did not know what to do with me.”

“I would not do it again. It was irresponsible.”

“Of course I was scared. I was afraid of being shot down.”

“Looking back, I can say that I was an idealist, maybe a dreamer.”

“I wanted to create a bridge of understanding between the peoples of the two systems.”

“Today, I see the whole thing in a different light.”