You're reading: Poroshenko rewards Ukrainian pilot who performed emergency landing in Istanbul

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has presented the For Courage medal to Ukrainian pilot Oleksandr Akopov, who earlier performed an emergency landing of a damaged passenger liner at the Istanbul airport Ataturk.

The press service of the Ukrainian president reported that according to the decree of the head of state, Akopov was awarded a high state award for courage and selflessness shown in the line of his duty and high professionalism.

Akopov, who works as a pilot on the flights of the Turkish company Atlasglobal, saved the lives of 121 passengers and 6 crew members in extremely difficult weather conditions on July 27, flawlessly completing the landing of an emergency passenger liner at Istanbul Ataturk Airport.