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{{Short description|Hero of the Soviet Union}}
{{family name hatnote|Mykolayovych|Melnyk|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Infobox military person
|name = Nikolai Melnik
|birth_date = {{birth date|1953|12|17}}
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|7|26|1953|12|17}}
|birth_place = [[Stavysche]], [[Kyiv Oblast]], [[Ukrainian SSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
|death_place = [[Alicante]], [[Spain]]
|image = Nikolai Melnik (cropped).JPG
|caption= Melnyk in 2006
|nickname=
|allegiance = {{USSR}}<br>{{UKR}}
|serviceyears =
|rank =
|commands =
|unit =
|battles = [[Liquidator (Chernobyl)|Chernobyl disaster relief operation]]
|awards = [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]<br>[[Order of Lenin]]<br>Igor I. Sikorsky Award for Humanitarian Service
|laterwork = [[Test pilot]], [[aerial firefighting]] pilot
}}
'''Mykola Mykolayovych Melnyk''' ({{langx|uk|Микола Миколайович Мельник}}; 17 December 1953 – 26 July 2013), also known as '''Nikolai Melnik''', was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]-[[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] [[Aviator|pilot]] and [[Liquidator (Chernobyl)|liquidator hero]] known for his high-risk [[helicopter]] mission on the dangerously-[[radioactive contamination|radioactive]] [[Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant]] building immediately after the 1986 [[Chernobyl disaster]].

For this operation, he was awarded the title of [[Hero of the Soviet Union]],<ref name=sptimes/> and the Igor I. Sikorsky Award for Humanitarian Service.

==Early life==
Mykola Melnyk was born on December 17, 1953, and grew up in the town of [[Stavyshche]] in the [[Kyiv Oblast]] in [[Ukraine]] (at that time the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]]).<ref name="Remebrance Book"/> Upon his school graduation, Melnyk worked as a sports coach, and later as a [[Telephone|telephone station]] technician in Stavyshche, later moving to [[Zaporizhia]] for a construction job.<ref name="poshtar obituary">{{cite news | url=http://dt.ua/columnists/zhittya-zaradi-priydeshnih-pokolin-pam-yati-tovarisha-126347_.html | title=Життя заради прийдешніх поколінь (пам'яті товариша) | work=[[Dzerkalo Tyzhnia]] | date=2013-08-07 | accessdate=24 August 2013 | author=Poshtar, Petro | location=Kyiv}}</ref> In 1972–74 he served his [[conscription|conscript service]] in the [[Soviet Armed Forces]].

==Pilot career==
In 1979 Mykola Melnyk graduated from the Civil Aviation Pilot School (KLUGA) in [[Kremenchuk]] and began working as a civilian helicopter pilot in different cities. Later he continued his education at the [[Kremenchuk University|Kremenchuk Department of the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute]] and the Civil Aviation [[Postgraduate education|Academy]] in [[Leningrad]]. After graduation from the special [[test pilot]] school in 1984, Melnyk worked as a test pilot, particularly for the [[Kamov|Kamov helicopter design bureau]] in [[Feodosiya]].<ref name="Remebrance Book">МЕЛЬНИК, Микола Миколайович, [http://memory.chornobylmuseum.kiev.ua/index.php "Remembrance Book"] {{in lang|uk}}</ref><ref name="oboronprom.ru">{{cite web |url=http://www.oboronprom.ru/news/vertolet-ka-32-v-nebe-pyati-kontinentov |title=ВЕРТОЛЕТ КА-32 – В НЕБЕ ПЯТИ КОНТИНЕНТОВ (The Ka-32 in the Sky, Five Continents) |date=13 January 2006 |publisher=Oboronprom Corporation |language=ru |access-date=16 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616113920/http://www.oboronprom.ru/news/vertolet-ka-32-v-nebe-pyati-kontinentov |archive-date=16 June 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Chernobyl mission==
After the April 1986 Chernobyl disaster, Melnyk was directed to work in the cleanup operations. Lethal levels of [[radiation]] created after the Reactor #4 fire prevented ground [[Liquidator (Chernobyl)|liquidator teams]] from most operations on the roof of the power plant building. However, helicopters could reach and leave the area above the building within seconds, thus inflicting less health damage to the personnel on board. They were employed to cover building openings with [[sandbag]]s and [[lead]] slabs, install necessary equipment, commence aerial [[photography]] and atmospheric [[radioactive contamination]] [[Radiation monitoring|monitoring]].<ref>[http://www.iss-atom.ru/book-4/glav-1-13.htm БОЕВЫЕ ДЕЙСТВИЯ В "МИРНОМ" НЕБЕ] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130416214924/http://www.iss-atom.ru/book-4/glav-1-13.htm |date=2013-04-16 }} {{in lang|ru}}</ref><ref name="Воздушная битва при Чернобыле">[http://www.xliby.ru/transport_i_aviacija/aviacija_i_vremja_2011_03/p5.php Воздушная битва при Чернобыле (Aerial Battle of Chernobyl)] in "Aviatsiya i Vremia" magazine, 2011, #2; {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

Melnyk, among others, was assigned to such missions as an experienced civilian helicopter pilot. He flew 46 [[sortie]]s over the reactor building, for a combined total duration of 52 hours.<ref name="Remebrance Book"/> The most important of those sorties was the so-called "Operation Igla" (Operation Needle), the June 19, 1986, installation of a giant {{convert|18|m|adj=on}}-long [[Ionizing radiation|radiation]] probe on top of the building by means of a precision [[airdrop|drop]] from a Kamov<ref>Sources name either [[Kamov Ka-27]] or [[Kamov Ka-32]] as the model of exact helicopter.</ref> [[Coaxial rotors|coaxial rotor helicopter]].<ref name="Воздушная битва при Чернобыле"/><ref>[http://www.v-chernobyl.ru/Doroga_na_Pripyat/Operaciya_Igla/index.html Операция «Игла»] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007000129/http://www.v-chernobyl.ru/Doroga_na_Pripyat/Operaciya_Igla/index.html |date=2013-10-07 }} {{in lang|ru}}, [http://www.v-chernobyl.ru/Doroga_na_Pripyat/Rabota_Melnika/index.html Работа Мельника] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007001337/http://www.v-chernobyl.ru/Doroga_na_Pripyat/Rabota_Melnika/index.html |date=2013-10-07 }} {{in lang|ru}}, [http://www.pravda.ru/video/science/502.html Страсти по Чернобылю] {{in lang|ru}}, Губарев, В. Страсти по Чернобылю – М., "Алгоритм", 2011 {{ISBN|978-5-4320-0011-8}} {{in lang|ru}}</ref><ref>S. V. Mikheyev, [http://archives.rotor.com/documents/Rotor%20Magazine/rotor90sprg.pdf KA-32 Helicopter Over the Reactor of the Number 4 Block of Chernobyl] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306103016/http://archives.rotor.com/documents/Rotor%20Magazine/rotor90sprg.pdf |date=2016-03-06 }}, ''Rotor'' magazine, Spring 1990, pp. 20–21.</ref> This operation was described as dropping a "needle" into a precise spot; it was considered especially difficult. When Melnyk successfully completed the operation during a training exercise in [[Moscow]], the observers broke into applause.<ref name=Passion/> Melnyk did not know the purpose of the training, however, until several days later when he flew to [[Kyiv]] to undertake the actual mission.<ref name=sptimes/> The first attempt to insert the "needle" into the actual reactor was foiled by a frozen crust above the target; Melnyk succeeded on the third try.<ref name=Passion>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvtornik.ru/articles/2011/02/189/2803.html | title=Губарев В. Страсти по Чернобылю // Деловой вторник (Passion for Chernobyl) |work=Делового вторника (Business Tuesday) | date=18 February 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207042926/http://dvtornik.ru/articles/2011/02/189/2803.html |archivedate=7 February 2012|language=ru}}</ref>

According to the "Remembrance Book" by the [[Ukrainian National Chornobyl Museum|Chornobyl Museum]], Melnyk participated in the 'liquidator' operations on site of the disaster from May 20, 1986, until September 9, 1986.<ref name="Remebrance Book"/>  In 1994, he underwent two surgeries related to health problems attributed to his radiation exposure.<ref name=sptimes/>

==Subsequent aviation career and death==
Upon return from Chernobyl mission, Melnyk continued his work as a test pilot at the Kamov helicopter testing center in Feodosiya until 1992.<ref name="poshtar obituary"/> In independent Ukraine, the facility was reorganized as a separate Feodosiya Kamov Research and Production Enterprise "Vertolit" (Феодосійське науково-виробниче об'єднання "Вертоліт" імені Камова).<ref name="Remebrance Book"/>

Some time after the [[fall of the Soviet Union]], Melnyk co-founded a [[cargo airline]] in [[Kyiv]]. The company operated [[Antonov An-24]] airplanes and [[Kamov]] helicopters as a subcontractor for [[DHL Express|DHL]] and [[United Parcel Service]]. However, he gradually became disappointed with the business, citing lack of sustainable demand for his helicopter specialization.<ref name=sptimes/>

In 1995, [[Spain|Spanish]] airline [[Helicopteros del Sureste]] approached Melnyk for help with purchase of Soviet-made helicopters. Melnyk used the opportunity to move to [[Alicante]] (Spain), where he became contracted as a pilot and instructor specializing in Soviet-designed helicopters with the Helicopteros del Sureste.<ref>[http://www.aviaport.ru/digest/2005/04/25/90372.html Летчик-Герой Чернобыля ведет Ка-32 в Испанию] {{in lang|ru}}</ref> He trained at least 25 local pilots and also has worked in aerial firefighting. As of 2006, Melnyk had 13,400 recorded flight hours.<ref name=sptimes/><ref name="oboronprom.ru"/>

According to a Ukrainian regional newspaper, Mykola Melnyk died in Spain on July 26, 2013. The cause of death is not specified.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.telegraf.in.ua/kremenchug/2013/07/29/v-ispanii-umer-geroy-sssr-letchik-ispytatel-iz-kremenchuga-nikolay-melnik_10030914.html|script-title=ru:В Испании умер Герой СССР, летчик-испытатель из Кременчуга Николай Мельник| date=29 July 2013|website=Telegraf|location=[[Kremenchuk]]| accessdate=7 June 2019|language=ru}}</ref>

==Recognition and awards==

===Soviet awards===
Melnyk was awarded the title [[Hero of the Soviet Union]],<ref name=sptimes>{{cite news|url=http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=3713|title=Former Chernobyl Pilot Soars Above His Obstacles|date=31 May 2005|work=[[The St. Petersburg Times (Russia)|The St. Petersburg Times]]|accessdate=12 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317233041/http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=3713|archive-date=17 March 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="oboronprom.ru"/> by Decree of the Presidium of the [[Supreme Soviet of the USSR]] issued on October 6, 1987, for his "courage, heroism and self-sacrifice displayed during liquidation of the Chernobyl NPP accident consequences". Along with the title of "Hero", he received the Soviet [[Order of Lenin]] and [[Gold Star Medal]].

===International awards===
In 1990, as part of its "[[Salute to Excellence]]" awards program, the [[Helicopter Association International]] honored Melnyk (as ''Nikolai Melnik'') with its [[Igor I. Sikorsky]] Award for Humanitarian Service. The Sikorsky award is presented annually to one or more persons "who best demonstrate(s) the value of civil rotorcraft to society by saving lives, protecting property, and aiding those in distress". The award to Melnyk recognized his efforts as a Chernobyl 'liquidator'. The award committee specified that Melnyk was recognized as a representative of "all the valiant aircrews who participated in relief efforts following the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://helicopterannual.org/portals/27/pdf/ann_p6c4.pdf|title="Salute to Excellence" Awards|work=Helicopter Annual |year=2009|accessdate=5 October 2013|page=370|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006220054/http://helicopterannual.org/portals/27/pdf/ann_p6c4.pdf|archivedate=6 October 2013}}.</ref>

In Spain Melnyk received a Spanish royal award for [[aerial firefighting]].<ref name=sptimes/>

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{chernobyl disaster|state=collapsed}}
{{Portal bar|Ukraine|Biography}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melnik, Nikolai}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Stavyshche]]
[[Category:Ukrainian aviators]]
[[Category:Heroes of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Kyiv]]
[[Category:Helicopter pilots]]
[[Category:Soviet test pilots]]
[[Category:Kamov]]
[[Category:Chernobyl liquidators]]
[[Category:Ukrainian emigrants to Spain]]

Mykola Melnyk - Revision history

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