A Soviet pilot landed a passenger plane on a beach on Turkey's Black Sea coast Monday and asked for political asylum. Officials quoted him as saying he wanted to flee the ``undemocratic regime'' in Moscow. A government announcement said the pilot was alone in the Antonov-2 plane when it landed near Kumcagiz, a village in Kocaeli province. The official Soviet news agency Tass said the 12-seat plane was seized in Izmail, near the Ukrainian port of Odessa. The report offered few details. The Turkish statement identified the pilot as Valeri Yuricevic. Kocaeli Gov. Ihsan Dede said Yuricevic was married and had a child. He said the pilot recently separated from his wife. Tass said the pilot resigned several months ago from his job with an Odessa air crew. Officials quoted Yuricevic as saying during an interrogation that he escaped ``the undemocratic regime'' in his country and wanted to live in Turkey. Dede told The Associated Press that Yuricevic, 29, complained about harsh living conditions in the Soviet Union, where shortages are widespread and economic problems continue. He said the pilot did not elaborate. Dede said Yuricevic's request for political asylum was being examined. State TV showed the plane near the coastline. A village girl interviewed on television said residents watched the plane land. She said the pilot approached her after he got out of the plane and spoke to her in Russian. Another villager said the pilot was shaking and looked nervous. Villagers brought the pilot to the police station, Dede said. The plane, flying at low altitude, made the trip in two hours. Turkey's announcement said the plane was tracked immediately after it entered Turkish airspace and military planes were put on alert. However, the plane was allowed to land safely when authorities determined it posed no threat. There are no airports in the province. A government official, who requested anoynmity, said the Soviets immediately asked Turkey to return the plane and the pilot. Dede said local officials were waiting for a team of technical experts to move the plane, which sunk into the sand on the beach. When a Soviet air force captain defected to this country in a MIG-29 jet a year ago, Turkey allowed the plane to be flown back to the Soviet Union but sent the pilot to the United States upon his request.
