Ace pilot who belly landed Bek Air jet received Patriot of the Year award
"Patriotism for me is to love my family, country and honestly, professionally do my job. Perhaps this is patriotism. Because patriots are not born, they are brought up. I want our country to pay a lot of attention to the education of youth," captain Rodin said at a award ceremony during the Patriots' Forum of Kazakhstan.
In an interview on the sidelines of the forum Dmitry told about his life after his heroic deed. "I live the way I lived, except that now I take part in various forums. Too much solemnity, my attitude towards this is different. (...) Passengers, normally, do not see the crew when they board the plane because we sit in the cockpit, preparing to take off. And after landing, passengers leave, while we are still in the cockpit. I quite rarely meet passengers. But when passengers fly our airline, they are always interested in who is sitting in front. They always ask flight attendants about this, and they tell them," he said.
Patriot of the Year title was awarded to Kazakhstanis who demonstrate an outstanding heroism, active civil position, sincere patriotism and love for their homeland in their daily work.
Awardees will be included in the golden list of the country's patriots. 30 more Kazakhstanis were awarded the title in addition to Dmitry Rodin.
As previously reported, on March 27, 2016, captain Dmitry Rodin belly landed Bek Air's Fokker-100 at the Astana International after the front chassis malfunction. All 116 passengers and five crew members on board landed safely, with no injuries.
On May 6, the Head of State signed the Decree on awarding conferring the title of Halyk Kaharmany (National Hero) as recognition of his outstanding service to Kazakhstan, courage and dedication while on duty.
The forum of patriots of Kazakhstan in Astana brought together more than 200 doctors, military, firemen, teachers, athletes, cultural figures, youth leaders, representatives of business and public organizations.