Pilot ignores safety warnings and ice cracks to land plane on frozen surface of deepest lake 

Spectacular footage shows how a plane landed on the frozen surface of the world’s deepest lake – despite dire warnings of thin ice.

A Russian team tested the strength of the visibly cracked ice of Lake Baikal, successfully touching down and taking off again in a Cessna 172.

The mile-deep lake in Siberia contains 20 per cent of the world’s unfrozen freshwater – more than the North American great lakes put together.

The stunt was organised by photographer Vadim Makhorov who boasted: ‘This year I’ve tested the ice of Baikal in a very unusual way.’

It came shortly after a stern warning from the Russian Emergencies Ministry to drivers taking cars on winter roads on the frozen expanse.

Vadim travelled with Andrey Melnikov and two other pilots over Baikal in a small Cessna 172 plane from Listvyanka to Svyatoy Nos Cape, Russia.

He added: ‘Despite the fact that this year’s brought quite a lot of snow, we found some large areas of pure ice and landed there.

‘Just take a look at the photos I’ve managed to take from the plane.⠀

‘It is not usual for planes to land on ice.

‘There may be some risks whether that be ice drift, cracks or thin ice.’

He said the team had checked in advance the ice was suitable on the area of Baikal they landed – at this time of year it should be three feet thick, but can be a thin as an inch or two.

‘We made a preliminary exploration of the area and only after that decided to land,” he said.

‘It was the first time in my entire life when I really gave a big clap to the pilots during the landing.’

‘In future, he is contemplating offering winter tours including an epic landing on the ice,’ reported The Siberian Times.

This month the ministry warned drivers using winter ice roads on the lake that mild temperatures have resulted in thin ice.

‘Ice formatting is a lot slower than usual this year,’ said officials.

‘Right after initial freezing we had a lot of snowfalls, with the heavy mass of snow delaying the active build up of ice.’

This forms a ‘thermal pillow above the ice’ and in certain areas, the ice is only one or two inches thick.

But this can be ‘very hard to notice as you drive’.

In January, experienced father and son hikers Boris and Zachary Sarapulov fell through thin ice evidently caused by hot springs bubbling from the floor of the lake.

They were 1,000 ft from the shore but managed to pull themselves out of the icy water.

Soaking wet, the pair walked four miles across the ice to summon help.

Crescent-shaped Lake Baikal is larger in area than Belgium.

It is the world’s oldest and deepest lake – measuring a maximum depth of 5,315 feet.