MiG-29 jet - fighter crashes during a Bulgarian-American joint training exercise

A MiG-29 jet-fighter crashed yesterday morning in the area of the villages of Malak Cherdak and Golyam Cherdak during the Thracian Star 2012 Bulgarian-American joint training exercise, conducted close to the Graf Ignatievo Air Force Base.

The two pilots - Major Iliya Doychinov and Captain Peter Metodiev managed to eject after having directed the machine in a safe course. The plane dropped a hundred meters away from the houses of the village of Malak Cherdak and at a kilometre from Golyam Cherdak. There were no injured inhabitants of the settlements, posted the Focus agency, quoting witnesses of the accident.

“Both pilots have injuries in the spine due to the ejection, but this is normal in such situations,” said Minister of Defence Anyu Angelov, who visited the scene. The officers are out of danger in a military hospital in Plovdiv.

According to witnesses, the plane caught fire almost immediately after takeoff from the base at 10.35 am. Shortly thereafter, the pilots ejected and the machine continued to fly on fire two or three kilometres before landing on the ground and exploding.

The area was rendered safe; it was fenced and was made inaccessible to journalists in a perimeter of 100 meters around the crash. An ambulance car and a Military Police car arrived immediately at the site. Officers from the Military Prosecutor's Office and from a commission with the Ministry of Defence came later and immediately started investigating the case.

According to Minister Angelov, the pilots reacted professionally when they diverted the direction of the flight in a safe course, preventing destruction and casualties. He said that this is further evidence that the military profession is one of the most risky and that the calls for cuts in the social benefits of the army are unmerited.

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