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On April 21, 2016, Nikolai Lebedev's "The Crew" was released — a disaster film that caused a storm of enthusiasm and controversy. Many experts immediately dubbed it one of the most striking phenomena in modern Russian cinema. On the first day of release, the film hit the jackpot, grossing more than 60 million rubles, and the resounding start of the week-end confidently predicted its place in the top three at the Russian box office.

Work on the film was in full swing from September 18, 2014 to February 8, 2015. Nikolai Lebedev, who became famous thanks to "Legend No. 17", had long dreamed of conquering the disaster film genre, but only thanks to the support of Leonid Vereshchagin and Nikita Mikhalkov, who offered him "The Crew", did this dream take wing. Feeling the support of Alexander Mitta himself, the creator of the cult "The Crew" of 1979, the director plunged headlong into the work.

The main roles were played by first-rate stars: Vladimir Mashkov, who embodied the image of a wise and experienced commander, and Danila Kozlovsky, who brilliantly played a young, daring pilot-trainee.

Plot

Alexey Gushchin (Danila Kozlovsky) is expelled from military aviation for his obstinacy and disobedience. Only by a miracle does he manage to stay in the sky, moving to civil airlines. Thus begins a new round of his career: Alexey gets a job as a second pilot-trainee at the Pegasus Avia airline under the wing of a stern mentor, crew commander Leonid Zinchenko (Vladimir Mashkov). The relationship between them sparks from the very beginning, developing into a tough confrontation.

On one of the usual flights, the Zinchenko crew receives an SOS signal: a volcano has awakened on one of the islands, threatening to destroy all living things. Without hesitation, the crew directs its airliner into the very heat to save hundreds doomed to death.

Filming process

The filming of "The Crew" took place in the picturesque locations of Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as in the vast expanses of sunny Crimea.

Moscow's Vnukovo Airport became the setting for the airport scenes, and the impressive disaster shots were filmed on the territory of the Gromov Flight Research Institute.

The culmination was the explosions of two real aircraft — a passenger Tu-154 and a cargo An-12, from which the engines and avionics had been removed beforehand.

The shots taken inside the cabin and cockpit were created in sets mounted on hydraulic gimbal suspensions (gimbals) that simulate turbulence and roll.

Realistic cockpits were designed for "The Crew", where all the controls were functional, with working computers and steering wheels.

Two real planes "appeared" in the film.

The first — Tu-204SM (board RA-64151) — got the role of the main character. This is a Tupolev Design Bureau test aircraft, dressed in the livery of the fictional Pegasus Avia airline, on which the main characters flew.

The second aircraft in the film was not so lucky. It was a decommissioned Tu-154M of Kosmos Airlines with tail number RA-85796. According to the plot, it explodes spectacularly at the airport on a volcanic island. Its fiery catastrophe became one of the most striking and memorable scenes in the film.

Tu-204SM is a Russian medium-range, narrow-body passenger aircraft.

Technical characteristics of the Tu-204 aircraft:

• wing span — 42 m.
• aircraft length — 46.2 m.
• maximum take-off weight — 108 tons.
• weight of an unequipped aircraft — 60.5 tons.
• amount of fuel — 35.8 tons.
• total weight of commercial load — 23 tons.
• range with maximum commercial load — 4200 km.
• range with maximum refueling — 8300 km.
• recommended echelons of commercial flights — 10.6–12.1 km.
• optimal speed at echelon — 830–850 km/h.

Technical characteristics of the Tu-154M aircraft:

• wing span — 37.55 m, aircraft length — 48 m, height — 11.4 m.
• empty aircraft weight — 54.8 tons, maximum take-off weight — 102 tons.
• fuel reserve: 47,000 l.
• cruising speed: 900–950 km/h.
• practical ceiling: 10,900 m.
• crew: 3 people.
• passenger capacity: 158 people in a three-class cabin, 176 in economy class, maximum — 180.

Previously, www1.ru recommended watching a masterpiece of Soviet cinema — "They Fought for Their Country".

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