Description:
83 people died and 199 were injured as a result of a disaster at the Sknilov aerodrome near Lvov (the Ukraine), in which an Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 taking part in an air show crashed into the crowd. The tragedy occurred on 07/27/2002 at 12:45 local time, when the plane, which was performing an advanced manoeuvre, suddenly began to lose height and plunged into spectators. “Sukhoi Su-27 jet fighter clipped the ground, cartwheeled into the crowd and exploded after the pilots failed to pull out of a difficult rolling dive manoeuvre.” Fortunately, both pilots could eject from an airplane and live.
An investigating commission blamed the pilots for trying to pull off the stunt at too low an altitude. Those two pilots were sentenced to prison. Volodimir Toponar was sentenced to 14 years in prison, and his co-pilot Yuri Yegorov was sentenced to eight years.
