Biography
Vitaly Kaloev is a seemingly ordinary person, a Soviet architect and builder. But the event that occurred on July 1, 2002, radically changed the man’s life, completely depriving it of meaning. In a plane crash, Vitaly Konstantinovich lost his wife and two children. The grief-stricken father and loving husband decided to punish dispatcher Peter Nielsen, who was responsible for the tragedy. This story has acquired a global scale: Kaloev’s act was talked about not only in Russia, but also in other countries.
Vitaly Kaloev married for the second time: about the wedding
Vitaly Kaloev did not talk about his wife, but he did not hide anything. His new chosen one’s name is Irina, and the wedding took place according to the Ossetian rite. Kaloev explained his choice not to go to the registry office by saying that at the registry office you only receive a piece of paper. She means nothing to him. And so relatives come, everyone knows. Vitaly said that he wanted to start a family and asked Irina for her consent.
Even before the ceremony itself, it is necessary to collect the bride price. And the Ossetian wedding itself takes place both in the house of the bride and in the house of the groom. Usually this is a mass celebration with the participation of more than 200 people, acquaintances, friends and relatives. At such a celebration, fun always reigns; any uninvited neighbor or acquaintance can come to it, and they have no right to refuse him. At a celebration you can always see a large table with food and sweets. It has also become a tradition to have wild boar on the festive table. But the most important component remains the three pies, which symbolize water, sun and sky.
Childhood and youth
The biography of Vitaly Kaloev began on January 15, 1956 in North Ossetia, in the city of Vladikavkaz, formerly Ordzhonikidze. The boy grew up in the village of Chermen in an intelligent family: his father Konstantin Kambolatovich, an Ossetian by nationality, taught his native language at school, and his mother Olga Gazbeevna worked as a teacher. The parents raised two more sons and three daughters, among whom Vitaly was the youngest.
In the Kaloyevs’ house there were many books on the shelves, since the father of the family often bought literature even with his last money. Vitaly loved to read the epics of his native country, as well as the works of Russian writers. The little boy was distinguished by his mental abilities from a young age - at the age of 5 he was already calmly learning poetry by heart, unlike his brothers and sisters.
In high school, the gifted child studied with honors, his diary showed only A's. After graduating from school, Kaloev entered a construction college, and then went to serve in the army.
The story of the tragedy of Vitaly Kaloev, how he killed the dispatcher
The plane crash occurred several minutes after German air traffic controllers handed over the escort of the Russian plane to their colleagues in Switzerland working at the SkyGuide center at Zurich-Kloten Airport.
According to the rules, two dispatchers should be on duty, but there was only one - Dane Peter Nielsen. He gave the order to the crew of the Russian passenger plane to descend at the very moment when neither he nor the Boeing cargo plane could occupy safe levels. It soon became known:
— The main equipment for telephone communication and automatic notification of center personnel about the dangerous approach of aircraft was turned off. The main and backup phone lines were not working.
The planes were approaching, everything pointed to a plane crash. A dispatcher from Karlsruhe, Germany noticed this and tried to call eleven times, but to no avail.
Peter Nielsen worked for some time after the tragedy, then he was fired.
Vitaly Kaloev was one of the first to arrive at the scene of the tragedy. The director could not find a place for himself, because his entire family died - his beloved wife and two small children. At first, the special services did not allow him into the area of the plane crash, but he said that he wanted to search for the bodies of the dead with them, and he was given permission. During the search operation, Vitaly Kaloev discovered a pearl necklace. It was a decoration for his daughter Diana. The baby's body had virtually no serious damage. Soon the mutilated bodies of Svetlana and Kostya were found.
When Vitaly Kaloev found out that the plane crash was the fault of the dispatcher Peter Nielsen, he tried many times to contact the management of the aviation company. He wanted to know to what extent the dispatcher was to blame for the tragedy. Then he decided to talk to Peter Nielsen himself, and asked SkyGuide to organize a meeting for them. Initially, the company agreed, then refused without explaining the reason. A year passed, mourning events were organized to mark the anniversary of the terrible tragedy, and the director again contacted the company with the same questions and demands, and was again refused. But he had no intention of giving up.
February 24, 2004 was the last day of the life of former dispatcher Peter Nielsen - Vitaly Kaloev dealt with him in his home in Kloten (a suburb of Zurich). The director came to him with photographs of the dead family, expecting repentance from him. However, the man pushed Vitaly Kaloev away, and the photographs scattered. The director simply “lost his temper” and killed the man, inflicting more than twenty wounds with a knife. The dispatcher is survived by his wife and three children.
Vitaly Kaloev was very quickly detained by the Swiss police: an orientation letter was sent out to him. The director was detained at a local hotel and interrogated. He told how he found out where Peter Nielsen lives, what his family is like. He also said that he was in a state of passion when he stabbed Nilsen in his home.
Vitaly Kaloev was sent for a psychiatric examination. Based on the results obtained, he was found sane. The trial took place in October 2005: the director was given a sentence of 8 years, which he served in a Swiss prison. True, Vitaly Kaloyev was released in 2007 by decision of the Supreme Court of Switzerland for good behavior. Upon returning to North Ossetia, he began working as Deputy Minister of Architecture and Construction.
Swiss air traffic controllers were proven guilty.
— The control center in Zurich did not immediately notice the danger of two aircraft converging on the same echelon. As a result, the Tu-154 pilots followed the dispatcher’s command to descend, while the on-board flight safety system required them to urgently gain altitude.
The airline admitted guilt. A couple of years after the crash, Alain Rossier, director of SkyGuide, publicly apologized to the families of the victims. Vladimir Putin received a letter from the then Swiss President Joseph Deiss.
The film “Aftermath” was made about this plane crash, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Two days ago, on September 20, a press screening of “Unforgiven” by Sarik Andreasyan about the same tragedy took place. Vitaly Kaloyev was entrusted to play Dmitry Nagiyev.
Career
After the army, Vitaly successfully passed the exams at the North Caucasus Mining and Metallurgical Institute and entered the Faculty of Architecture. He did not waste his time studying - he worked as a foreman at a construction site, learning the basics of the profession in practice. Kaloyev’s brigade participated in the construction of the Sputnik military camp near Vladikavkaz.
In the late 80s, Vitaly created his own construction cooperative. Later, the architect was invited to the post of head of the construction department in the capital of North Ossetia. Since 1999, he collaborated with a Spanish construction company that was engaged in the construction of houses for immigrants from the Caucasus.
Personal life
According to the memoirs of Yuri Konstantinovich, Kaloev’s brother, he was in no hurry to get married. Konstantin Kambolatovich dreamed of his son getting married and even raised four bulls as a holiday gift, but Vitaly first wanted to get on his feet and then start a family to provide for his wife and children. Kaloev met his future bride, Svetlana Gagievskaya, at a bank where she worked as a director.
In 1991, in the winter, the lovers got married, there was a large-scale celebration in the family: Vitaly finally got married, and even the relatives liked the bride. The couple had two children - son Konstantin in 1991 and daughter Diana in 1998.
Konstantin did well at school and was also interested in astronautics. Vitaly tried to raise his heirs in peace and harmony: the family lived in harmony, the man still had home footage of happy times when everyone was smiling. In a video from the family archive, Kaloev carried his daughter in his arms and laughed all the time.
Airplane crash and dispatcher murder
In the summer of 2002, Vitaly Konstantinovich worked in Spain, building houses for a customer. Due to his stay abroad, the man did not see his wife and children for 9 months. Svetlana and her children decided to visit her husband in a sunny country. Later in an interview, Kaloev said that the flight was preceded by many bad omens.
Svetlana Gagievskaya was unable to purchase tickets to Barcelona: there were no available flights on the required date. The architect's wife, having called well-known airline ticket offices, was already thinking about changing plans - she was going to unpack her suitcases. Unexpectedly, the lady was offered seats on a Bashkir Airlines plane that was scheduled to take off soon. The flight was intended for the best schoolchildren of Ufa, who received free trips to Europe for their academic success.
There were still empty seats on the plane, which went to the builder's family. Svetlana immediately agreed to take this flight. According to Yuri’s recollections, the woman panicked because she didn’t have time to catch the plane. In the airport building, little Diana Kaloyeva, who was 6 years old at that time, got lost in the terminal. When the girl was found, check-in for the ill-fated flight had already ended.
Vitaly Kaloev and Peter Nielsen / @kazbekty, @joaomaria97
By the will of fate, Svetlana and her children were nevertheless brought on board. But the “fateful signs” did not end there. The airliner had already left the runway when it became known that the workers had forgotten to load food. Therefore, the flight was delayed by 15 minutes to correct the situation.
The plane took off from Moscow to Barcelona at 18:47 with 71 people on board (most of the passengers were 52 children). The airliner flew over Germany late at night; the private Swiss company Skyguide was managing the flights. At the time of the tragedy, 2 people were working in the control room, one of whom was away for a break. 34-year-old Peter Nielsen had to independently cope with two remote controls and give commands to the pilots.
Some of the equipment in the control room was turned off, and the telephone connection did not work. Nielsen noticed late that the Boeing, which was flying to Brussels, was on the same flight level as the Tu-154 aircraft of Bashkir Airlines. Peter tried to correct the situation and gave orders for flight 2937 to descend.
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At the same time, the TCAS electronic automatic system gave the same command to the Boeing to descend. The pilots of Flight 611 tried to inform Nielsen that they had complied with the TCAS command, but the air traffic controller was giving instructions to another crew and listened to the message from the Boeing command.
Before the tragedy, in a matter of seconds, the Boeing and Tu-154 pilots saw each other and did everything possible to prevent the accident from happening, completely deflecting the controls. The planes collided at right angles over Lake Constance, near the town of Iberlingen in Germany, on July 1, 2002 at 21:35. All people on board both crews were killed.
Vitaly Konstantinovich learned about the tragedy on the morning of July 2. At 7 o'clock he called his brother Yuri and cried. Kaloev immediately flew from Barcelona to Switzerland, and from there he got to Iberlingen to the scene of the tragedy. He, along with the police, participated in search operations and soon independently found the body of his little daughter.
After the planes collided, lawsuits began between the airlines. The Bashkir company filed a lawsuit against the Federal Republic of Germany for using the services of foreign commercial organizations, and against Skyguide for employee negligence and equipment malfunction.
At the Cannes Film Festival, as part of the Russian pavilion, Sarik Andreasyan’s film “Unforgiven” about a murderer will be shown...
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Dmitry Nagiyev as Vitaly Kaloev
During the investigation, Peter Nielsen was not fired and continued to perform his work duties. Winterthur, the insurer of the Swiss airline, paid compensation to the relatives of the victims in the amount of $150 thousand.
The funeral of the deceased Kaloyev family took place in their homeland. The farewell ceremony was attended by several thousand compatriots. After what happened, Vitaly Konstantinovich lost the meaning of life, which consisted in his wife and children. The grief-stricken father spent almost every day in the cemetery near the graves of his relatives. Work lost its meaning for him.
The only thing the man saw as a goal for himself was the usual human apology and admission of guilt by Peter Nielsen, who, according to Kaloyev, is to blame for the tragedy that occurred. The dispatcher got away with only a fine and continued to work for Skyguide, living a normal life with his wife and small children.
In the summer of 2003, Vitaly Konstantinovich came to Russia in search of justice. The man hoped to wait for an apology for his broken life. According to the recollections of the director of the Swiss organization, Allen Rossier, he behaved excitedly, constantly asking the dispatchers whether Nielsen was to blame for the incident. He also sought a meeting with Peter, who was working that day, but was refused.
Posted by Dilara Kazyer on Sunday, August 16, 2020
Vitaly Kaloev at the grave of his family
Kaloev continued to seek justice on his own. In the winter of 2004, hoping to talk with Peter, I went to the Swiss town of Kloten. Nielsen's neighbor told the man where the air traffic controller's house was located.
Standing on the threshold with a photo of his wife and children, Vitaly Konstantinovich knocked on the door of the culprit of the tragedy. Nielsen opened it. Kaloev began to communicate with the dispatcher in broken German, showing the photograph, hoping that the criminal would repent. Instead of apologizing to the unknown man, Peter pushed him and the photographs fell to the ground.
On February 24, 2004, Nilsen died from 12 stab wounds on the threshold of his own home in the presence of his relatives. Kaloev did not admit to what he had done, but he also did not deny his guilt, because due to clouding of his mind, he does not remember what happened that day.
A Swiss court sentenced Kaloyev to eight years in prison, proving the murder of the dispatcher. When Vitaly Konstantinovich was serving his sentence, letters from all over the world arrived in prison in his name from unknown people who expressed condolences to the prisoner. There were so many messages that they were counted by weight. Over the course of several months, about 20 kg of letters accumulated, which the architect took away after his release.
Vitaly Kaloev commented on the birth of twins
After the tragedy and reprisal against the Swiss dispatcher Peter Nielsen, because of which two planes collided in the sky, Kaloev said that he was “at odds with God.” But time passed, and Vitaly found the strength to build a new life.
In 2013, Vitaly started a family for the second time. His chosen one was Irina Dzarasova, who worked as an engineer at OJSC Sevkavkazenergo. She is 22 years younger than her husband.
Two years ago Vitaly retired. As the former head of North Ossetia, Teimuraz Mansurov, told local reporters, “he’s just living the normal life that a man of his age should live. He didn’t bury himself anywhere, didn’t isolate himself from anything. He lives like a real Ossetian, a sage...”
And finally God gave him twins - a boy and a girl. The children were born healthy and feel well, just like their mother Irina.
“MK” got through to Vitaly Kaloev to congratulate him on this joyful event.
“The doctors say that everything is fine with the babies,” Kaloev said. — They were born healthy, everything is normal. My wife also feels well, everything went without complications.”
We haven’t come up with names for the children yet, but we have time to think about what to call them. Life turned out in such a way that children appeared and I again had the meaning of life.”
The terrible tragedy over Lake Constance, which occurred in July 2002, shocked many. Due to a pilot error, a DHL Boeing cargo plane and a Bashkir Airlines passenger airliner, on which Russian children were flying to Spain, collided head-on in the big sky.
Of the 71 victims of the disaster, 52 were children. Among the passengers on the ill-fated flight were the entire family of the architect from North Ossetia Vitali Kaloyev - his wife, 11-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.
Kaloev was building houses in Spain, did not see his family for a long time, and finally they decided to get out to him... Vitaly was the only one of the parents of the victims of the tragedy who was allowed to the scene of the disaster, where he rushed the next day. Scattered beads from his daughter’s childhood necklace, which he felt with trembling hands in the grass, then became an element of the memorial at the site of the tragedy...
Having buried his family and erected a huge beautiful monument on their grave, he still waited for justice. However, the Swiss one, which flew the planes in the night sky, was in no hurry to apologize. And dispatcher Peter Nielsen was not even fired. For two years, Kaloev, according to his stories, lived in a cemetery. And then he decided to seek justice himself. What happened next is well known and became the plot of two feature films - a Hollywood one with Schwarzenegger in the title role and a Russian one, where Kaloev was played by Dmitry Nagiyev.
Twelve stab wounds inflicted by Kaloev on the Swiss dispatcher, who did not want to apologize for what he had done and chased the Russian out of the yard like a dog, resulted in 8 years in prison. But already in 2007, Kaloev was released for good behavior. He returned to his homeland.
The head of North Ossetia, Taimuraz Mansurov, appointed him Deputy Minister for the Construction of the Republic. Vitaly threw himself into work. He didn’t want to come to the empty beautiful house that was built for a large family.
Under the leadership of Kaloev, many new buildings were built in Vladikavkaz. A television tower was erected on the mountain, to which a cable car stretches, a music and cultural center with an amphitheater and a school for talented children.
Schwarzenegger showed a trailer for the film where he played Vitaly Kaloev
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After prison
In the fall of 2008, Vitaly Konstantinovich, after serving 2 years, was released early for good behavior. At the Moscow airport he was greeted as a real hero. Kaloev admitted in an interview: he was pleased that hundreds of people supported him, but he did not consider himself a hero and did not want to be pitied. Afterwards the widower returned to his homeland. The local administration helped the fellow countryman return to life faster.
Vitaly Konstantinovich was appointed Deputy Minister of Construction and Architecture in the Republic of North Ossetia. In his new position, Kaloev oversaw projects of federal and international importance and supervised the construction of a television tower in Vladikavkaz. The architect’s achievements also included the construction of the Caucasian Music and Cultural Center named after. V. Gergiev. For these and other works, the builder received awards and a medal “For the Glory of Ossetia.”
Vitaly Konstantinovich held his post until 2021. At that moment, he was diagnosed with heart problems and underwent bypass surgery. But soon the builder’s health improved, as did his personal life.
Trailer for the film "Unforgiven"
The man found new love and married for the second time in 2012. His wife was Irina Dzarasova, an engineer at Sevkavkazenergo OJSC. At the wedding, which took place according to Ossetian customs, only close relatives of the newlyweds were present. And a few years later, Kaloev became a father again: on December 25, 2018, his wife gave him twins - son Maxim and daughter Sophia. In an interview, Irina admitted that she and her husband traveled to holy places and asked God to give them heirs.
The story of Vitaly Konstantinovich is remembered throughout the world. On April 7, 2017, the film “Consequences” was released, based on real events, in which the role of Kaloev was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The city of Columbus, Ohio was chosen as the location. The name of the main character and details of his life have been changed. In the American drama, the man's name is Victor, he is an emigrant from Russia.
Vitaly Konstantinovich admitted in an interview that he was dissatisfied with the performance of the famous actor. According to him, Schwarzenegger seeks to evoke pity among the audience, which contradicts Kaloyev’s worldview and religion.
Vitaly Kaloev with children.
the same one who stabbed the dispatcher, through whose fault his entire family died on the plane. Kaloev is now 62 years old. in the photo is his new wife and grown-up children. Posted by Olga Chekhova on Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Vitaly Kaloev and his new family
On April 13, 2021, Channel One aired the program “Let Them Talk,” dedicated to the terrible tragedy and the memory of the victims. In the summer of 2018, NTV dedicated a documentary film “New Russian Sensations: Vitaly Kaloev. Confessions of an Avenger."
Russian cinema also could not ignore the story of Vitaly Kaloev. Sarik Andreasyan became the director of the drama “Unforgiven”, in which the main character was presented on the screen by Dmitry Nagiyev. The premiere took place on September 27, 2021. The leading actor considers this work the best in his career.
The film also stars Rosa Khairullina, Mikhail Gorevoy, and Irina Bezrukova. At the first open film festival "Crystal Source", which took place in Essentuki, the film received 3 awards.
Vitaly Kaloev, who lost his family in a plane crash, showed his children from his second marriage
Fate played a cruel joke on Vladikavkaz resident Vitaly Kaloev: 17 years ago, he lost his wife and two children in a plane crash that occurred over Lake Constance. However, the man was given a chance to start life from scratch, Express Gazeta writes. Last year, Vitaly Kaloev’s new wife, who is 20 years younger than him, gave him a real New Year’s gift: on December 25, Irina Dzarasova gave birth to twins - a son, Maxim, and a daughter, Sophia.
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The new father was in no hurry to share his happiness with others. The silence was broken by the writer Ksenia Kaspari, who published a book about the tragic fate of Vitaly Kaloev: “Friends, I am glad to inform you that Vitaly Kaloev has become a father again today. He gave birth to twins. Son and daughter. I am very, very happy for Vitaly Konstantinovich and his wife Irina,” Teleprogramma.pro quotes the writer.
More recently, Internet users discovered photographs of Kaloyev’s new family: a happy father holding his son and daughter in his arms, who are dressed in national Ossetian costumes, and next to the head of the family is his wife. Followers were happy for Vitaly and admired the strength of his spirit: “I’m so happy for him. It's nice to see him happy and smiling. May God grant you health, happiness and prosperity in the family!!!”, “For the first time I see his smile in the photo. Happiness to you!”, “I will not be mistaken if I say that all of Ossetia shares with you your happiness, your boundless joy. So be happy!” – users wrote.
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Publication from Ossetia NEWS (@region15.info) Aug 5, 2021 at 12:51 PDT
When asked by the publication “KP-North Caucasus” about how things are going with him, Vitaly Kaloev replied that he lives with his wife and children in his house in Vladikavkaz. The man is retired, but sometimes works part-time.
The tragedy in the skies over Lake Constance occurred in 2002, when two planes collided due to a controller error, resulting in the death of 52 children and 19 adults. The plane crash completely changed the life of Vitaly Kaloyev: in the struggle for justice, the man found the dispatcher Peter Nielsen involved in the plane crash and killed him. The court sentenced Kaloyev to eight years in prison, but during the investigation the guilt of Nielsen and his colleagues was proven, after which Vitaly Kaloyev was released from custody.
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Vitaly Kaloev now
In 2021, Kaloyev was elected as a deputy of the Assembly of Representatives of the city of Vladikavkaz from United Russia. He nominated himself in accordance with the law and received a large number of votes. In 2021, a spontaneous rally arose in Vladikavkaz - those dissatisfied with the current leadership of the republic demanded the resignation of local government representatives.
In addition, the protesters called on Vitaly Konstantinovich to become the head of North Ossetia. In response, the deputy called on the rioters not to put themselves and their loved ones at risk and to go home peacefully. He also noted that the organizers of the unauthorized rally should be ashamed of what they had done.
In 2021, the architect continued to serve in the city administration, and tries to spend his free time with his new family and is raising children from his second marriage. At the same time, Kaloev does not forget to visit the site of the plane crash, where the monument is now erected.
How Vitaly Kaloev lives after his release
Only a few years after his release, Kaloev was able to start life from scratch. His wife was Irina Dzarasovva. It is known that the marriage has not been officially registered. However, a small wedding was arranged, where the newlyweds invited only their closest relatives.
Immediately after his release, Kaloev took the post of Minister of Construction in the Republic of North Ossetia.
Vitaly tried to help everyone who needed it while holding the position of deputy minister. Many letters for help came to him from places of imprisonment.
Today Vitaly Kalaev is retired. It is known that a man has a bad heart and therefore most of all wants to be left alone.
