OREANDA-NEWS  On 04 September was announced, that President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree awarding the title of Honorary Pilot of the Russian Federation to senior flight instructor of UTair (UTair Aviation, JSC) Vyacheslav Malets.

Vyacheslav Malets started his career with the airline in 1972 after his graduation from the Kremenchug Flight School for Civil Aviation. During his flight career he learned to pilot almost every type of Mil helicopter.

Vyacheslav Malets played a direct role in operational tests of the heavylift Mi-26T (the helicopter capable of carrying the heaviest weight in the world) in harsh Siberian conditions. He has been a member of the air support team for numerous UN peacekeeping missions worldwide as the head of a group of the airline’s specialists.

Vyacheslav Malets currently holds the position of UTair’s flight instructor. He is a qualified first-class civil aviation pilot and his total fail-safe flying time amounts to 18,000 flight hours.

The awardee received the joyful news of the title in the Republic of Sudan, where he is on a special assignment as the head of UTair’s air team which includes nearly a hundred people and 21 Mi-26, Mi-8MTV and Mi-8T helicopters.