Sknyliv. The world's worst airshow disaster to date.

[prop-er]

Sknyliv airshow disaster

Sknyliv airshow disaster Summary
Date 27 July 2002
Cause Pilot error
Site Near Lviv, Ukraine
Fatalities 84 (on the ground)
Injuries 100+ (on the ground)
Aircraft type Sukhoi Su-27
Operator Ukrainian Air Force - Ukrainian Falcons
Crew 2
Survivors 2

Sknyliv airshow disaster occurred on 27 July 2002. 84 people were killed and over 100 injured at an airshow in Sknyliv airport near Lviv, Ukraine. A Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi Su-27 aircraft crashed during an aerobatics presentation. It is the world's worst airshow disaster to date.

The aircraft, flown by two experienced pilots, entered a rolling manouevre with a downward trajectory at low altitude; having rolled upright once more the aircraft was still descending rapidly and the left wing dropped shortly before the aircraft hit the ground, at which point the crew initiated ejection. The aircraft flattened out initially, skidding over the ground towards stationary aircraft, striking a glancing blow against the nose of an Il-76 transport aircraft before beginning to explode and cartwheel into the crowd of spectators. Both pilots survived with minor injuries from the ejection and landed just feet away from the transport aircraft.

Initial reports of the cause of the crash varied, including impact with birds and engine failure. In one of the many views of the crash recorded, the Flanker's engines can be heard suddenly going silent immediately before the sudden dive towards the ground, but are audible again just before the impact with the tarmac. Other views have the engines running throughout the accident. Pilot Volodymyr Toponar insists the crash was due to mechanical failure.

Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma publicly blamed the military for the disaster and dismissed the head of the air force, Volodymyr Strelnykov. The defense minister Volodymyr Shkidchenko sent in his resignation, but it was rejected by Kuchma.

Experts have proposed the following as possible causes of the crash and subsequent loss of life:

pilot error
engine failure
violation of flight safety rules by crew or ground co-ordinator
improper flight plan: particularly, mistaken correlation between the display and spectators' zones
overfueling the plane, causing the Su-27 to become heavier and less agile than the pilots were used to when performing displays
On June 24, 2005, a military court sentenced Toponar and co-pilot Yuriy Yegorov to fourteen and eight years in prison, respectively. The court found the two pilots and three other military officials guilty of failing to follow orders, negligence and violating flight rules. Two of the three officials were sentenced to up to six years in prison, and the last official received up to four years. In addition, Toponar was ordered to pay 7.2 million hryvnia ($1.42 million; €1.18 million) in compensation to the families, and Yegorov another 2.5 million hryvnia. After the verdict was announced, Toponar said he planned to appeal.

While the pilots were assigned the majority of the blame, which included accusations of attempting manouevres that they were not experienced with, one pilot had requested additional training at the airfield where the display was to be performed; this request was denied.

A Russian Sukhoi Su-30 prototype fighter jet (a thrust vectoring derivative of the Su-27) had previously crashed under surprisingly similar conditions during the Paris Airshow. That accident happened due to flight plan error, but did not result in any fatalities, due in no small part to the far tighter safety rules at Western European airshows which placed the display much further away from the crowd.

Although the pilots have been convicted and imprisoned, since Toponar is still in the process of appealing his conviction, it still remains to be conclusively seen whether the pilots could have avoided the accident given the combined possibilities of engine failure, orders to fly without sufficient training, and a flawed flight plan.

Edit Roger: Het is in mijn ogen absoluut geen filmpje om op dit forum te tonen. Ik heb hem dan ook verwijderd uit je post!

Woorden schieten mij tekort.

[Rhelie]

Dit filmpje is al eens verwijderd !

Houd er rekening mee dat er heel jonge forummers zijn waarvoor dit walgelijke filmpje niet geschikt is.

ondanks mijn ontzettend sterke maag pleit ik ook voor het niet direct benaderbaar maken van het filmpje ondanks je zeer goed bedoelde waarschuwing. Er zijn/komen hier te veel kinderen onder de 16 waarvoor deze beelden niet echt geschikt zijn.

Bij joutube moet je al 18 zijn om dit te kunnen zien, je moet ervoor inloggen.

[laurens]

Dit gaat inderdaad weinig over het vliegen en grotendeels over de ravage.

[Berto]

Sorry, maar dit is meer sensatie dan het laten zien van een crash.
Als het nu alleen de crash was geweest met melding van het aalnatl doden etc. vooruit.

Maar hier wordt wel erg diep ingegaan op de doden die gevallen zijn.

[Psygho (Emil)]

Nou, we doen hem maar even dicht...
Ondanks de waarschuwing....

Ach kijk aan rogier mijn vriend...
Hoef ik het filmpje niet meer te verwijderen...