Amphibious pilots paid for illegal flight over Novosibirsk reservoir
In the Novosibirsk region, two private pilots of amphibious aircraft were brought to administrative responsibility for gross violation of the rules for the use of airspace
The reason for the proceedings was an incident that occurred in August 2026 in the waters of the Novosibirsk reservoir near Berdsk. It turned out that the pilots lifted their seaplanes into the air without the necessary coordination with air traffic controllers.
According to the West Siberian Transport Prosecutor’s Office, the flight was carried out within the boundaries of the Class C zone, which belongs to the controlled airspace of Tolmachevo International Airport. In such areas, any maneuvers, including departure and landing, require strict air traffic control authorization. For ignoring the current regulations, the transport prosecutor issued punishment orders, and now each of the violators will have to pay a fine of 20 thousand rubles.
Such light equipment is not uncommon in the sky over the Novosibirsk region, where private aviation is represented by models with a capacity from a couple of people to several dozen passengers. Among them, a special place is occupied by seaplanes capable of using the water surface as a runway.
In world practice, they are divided into three main types. The first is the classic land aircraft, in which the wheeled chassis is replaced by massive floats. The second type is specialized flying boats, whose lower part of the fuselage was originally designed according to the laws of shipbuilding for better sliding on water. Finally, amphibious aircraft fined in Berdsk represent the third, most versatile variety: they are shaped like a splashdown boat and equipped with retractable wheels, which allows them to land on dirt airfields and open water bodies.
Earlier, MK in Novosibirsk reported that the pilot was punished for illegal flight by helicopter.
