Vladimir Sharpatov

An Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane under his command made a forced landing at the airfield near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in August 1995.

All seven Russian nationals on board were subsequently held captive by the Taliban for a year until they successfully escaped by flying their own plane out of Afghanistan in August 1996.

Russian actor Alexander Baluyev played Vladimir Sharpatov in the 2010 film Kandagar.

Sharpatov took evening classes at the Kazan Aviation Institute, and attended a local flying club, where he became a glider pilot.

In 1971 Sharpatov entered the Saint Petersburg State University of Civil Aviation and upon graduation received the specialty of a pilot engineer.