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When a public opinion institute conducted a snap poll of more than 2,000 West Germans for their reaction to Rust's flight, 79% said they were "tickled" by the exploit. West German officials were considerably more somber. At week's end, said an aide to Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the government had not received "so much as a police blotter" report from the Soviet Union about the incident. Officials were worried not only about the fate of Rust but also about the impact of his stunt on Soviet-West German relations. One senior Bonn diplomat called the timing of Rust's flight particularly unfortunate "against the background of the present arms discussions and everything else at stake in the world at the moment."
The gloom lifted a bit after Moscow privately informed Bonn that West German officials would be allowed to visit Rust this Tuesday. It offered hope that the Soviets will not cancel a state visit by West German President Richard von Weizsacker scheduled for July.
The Red Square landing provided an eerie echo of a February 1974 incident in which a disgruntled U.S. Army private stole a helicopter from Fort Meade, Md., and landed it safely on the South Lawn of the White House. Then, as now, officials were shocked at the ease with which an unidentified craft was able to penetrate vital and heavily defended airspace. Initially, the Soviet press drew parallels between the two incidents, as if to minimize their seriousness. But TASS reported that during the emergency Politburo meeting the Soviet leadership took a far harsher view, and Soviet newscasters said an investigation would be conducted that could lead to the prosecution of some military personnel.
The landing on the White House lawn may have had little long-term impact on U.S. policy of any sort. But Mathias Rust's 16-day joyride, having already shaken the Soviet defense establishment, could have some enduring consequences for the Kremlin -- and the West.