While I was in the Air Force I was a crew chief on C-130s and I did several Thunder Bird support missions. As my C-130 was part of the air show we were in the pre show briefing. All the maneuvers were briefed. At air shows like this maneuver was filmed, the two jets are both supposed to be on the right side. Or possibly on the left for the Russians. But either way, this would put them on opposites sides of the runway as they pass each other head on at air show center at the bottom of the loop. The clouds should not have come into play as the runway would have been insight several seconds before the bottom of the loop. I would like to see the official report on the cause of one or both of them being out of position.
Amazing. To end up in same place, same time. Crash or no crash, these pilots are GOOD! They were both TRYING to get to that spot at the same time, and they did. Pure fate caused a hit. 5 stars, excellent video quality.
Before the smash, the show was the best I have ever seen ! and at the end, what a amazing pilot, just avoiding a sudden death and lighting a cigarette...
Thanks for uploading! I was there that day. Very frightening, but what a great display - before it all went wrong - and I'm glad the pilots were able to walk away afterwards.
it was `93, i missed this show since i was touring U.S. Basis for about 4 weeks during that year`s Fairford, so my dad recorded the BBC broadcast for me.
Those Zvezda K-36 ejection seats worked flawlessly... P.S. The first modern ejection seat was design and built in the '20s by the romanian Anastase Dragomir as the "catapulted cockpit"...
I remember seeing this on the main news the day it happened. The pilot really was as calm as he looked when he sparked up the cigarette. Very typically suave and Russian. Total efficiency under pressure. Still makes me smile today. Icing on the cake was that nobody was injured after what could have been a tragedy. Speaks volumes for the safety aspects of the RIAT display. Nobody does it better than RIAT organisers.
Beschastnov is HERO! Достигнув высоты около 3 километров экипаж начал снижение с одновременным разгоном. По достижении скорости 435 км/ч и высоты 2,2 километра в результате флаттера произошел отрыв обеих поверхностей руля высоты. Неуправляемый по тангажу самолёт стал терять высоту, и экипаж принял решение покинуть аварийную машины. О. А. Щепетков выпрыгнул с парашютом. Следом должен был прыгать А. Г. Бесчастнов, но в последний момент он заметил, что неуправляемый самолёт может рухнуть на посёлок Петровское. Вернувшись за штурвал, второй пилот увёл самолёт в сторону от посёлка. Однако прыгать было уже поздно, и Александр Георгиевич до конца пытался посадить неисправную машину. М-101Т упал в восьми километрах от аэродрома «Раменское». Спасатели эвакуировали ещё живого лётчика с места катастрофы, но от полученных множественных травм Александр Георгиевич скончался в вертолёте по дороге в больницу. Самолёт М-101Т «Гжель» Указом Президента Российской Федерации № 709 от 9 июля 2002 года за мужество и героизм, проявленные при испытании авиационной техники, лётчику-испытателю федерального государственного унитарного предприятия «Лётно-исследовательский институт имени М. М. Громова» Бесчастнову Александру Георгиевичу было присвоено звание Героя Российской Федерации посмертно.
Man, I still remember it like it was yesterday. Back home came the moment that i realized thing could have been much worse! We all have been lucky that day.
@DCTib The F-15s based at Soesterberg AB in the 80`s / 90`s put out a yellowish smoke, but nothing compared to those century fighters. Or soviet planes. At Fairford `89, when the show was held there was also a deployment there of KC-135`s with old engines. my god.. the sky was constantly filled with black smoke trails :)
Russian air shows are the best! First you get to see awesome maneuvers and action, they an awesome crash for a finish. You definitely get your money's worth.
raf fairford in gloucestershire, i was there when this happened, i was serving in the raf at the time and got sent back to guard the crash site while everything was cleared up, i remember one of the planes landed in a farmers field and was pretty much intact.
I heard that whenever the u.s would take its air fleet somewhere, they would build hangars for the planes, so that they wouldn't be damaged by the elements. The russians on the other hand would throw a tarp over their migs for the winter, and when spring would come around simply remove the tarp and fly
I was right in front of this collision. I think BBC may have the pilots names the wrong way round. I believe it was Bestchastnov in the stricken MIG fireball not as stated. I believe this as an aerial photographer friend was in Russia a few years later & was flown by Bestchastnov & I have a photo of him alongside his jet. He signed a photo of the Fairford MIG's for me. Sergei is much taller than Alex.
I witnessed this crash, close enough with a mate and our children to feel the heat from the blast of the one that lost it's nose. We were on the other side of the fence near the C130. The second aircraft waddled off towards a caravan park with it's wingtip on fire but it veered off and crashed into a field before reaching the caravans. We had thought the pilot stayed with it but learned afterwards that he had also ejected. One of the pilots landed on the other side of the fence from us.
Don´t you people understand that you are watching a huge error of 2 supposed high trained pilots? This should never have happened. It´s an act of incompetence. There's nothing to be proud of them. It´s not even an accident ocurred in the middle of a stressfull fight day. Instead, it ocurred in a daylight planned airshow, they knew perfectly what to do and what to expect. It was only a 2 airplanes show. What you have seen here is INCOMPETENCE.
Speaking of errors, you used the grave accent ( ` ) instead of an apostrophe ( ' ). What I have seen here is INCOMPETENCE. Accidents happen, my dude; these Russian pilots may be trained but they're still human.
At the `89 show on that airbase there were multiple tanker squadrons detached on Fairford, all with KC-135`s with the old Engines..more smoke then i ever saw.. it was not only the russians...most every Jet smoked like hell in the early 90`s.
Russia was a pioneer in military aviation long before the world even noticed. They always have and always will produce top shelf military aircraft as well as the best civilian aerobatic planes in the world..
The on-site USAF Fire Chief that was there, told me that Sergei (the older pilot) walked over "decked" Alexander before the cigarettes were lite...just another day in the office.
@nickapole That's not a "Hammer Head". A "Hammer Head" is where you kick the plane to the side with the rudder at the point of stall, which can't be done on these jets because there's no airflow over the rudder and no thrust vectoring. Here they allowed the plane to fall backwards before they dropped the nose. It's called a "Tail Slide" and Mig and Sukhoi pilots regularly perform this and the "Cobra" at airshows.
@ahmi94 best airshow ive ever visited was Fairford `89, With the Blackbird, 2x 74st TFS A-10`s, Pittsburg ANG A-7`s, and the last European (Rota based) A-3 Skywarrior. Awesome show, to bad it was the hottest summer in englands history :(
-wikipedia In 1993 two Mig-29s of the Russian Air Force collided in mid-air and crashed away from the public. No one was hurt on the ground. After having ejected, the two pilots landed safely.Investigators later determined that a pilot error was the cause, after one pilot did a reverse loop and disappeared into the clouds, the other one lost sight of his wingman and aborted the routine.
Yeah that was going to be my 4th trip to the IAT (was not Royal back then). But instead me and a buddy of mine chose to do a trip around the midwest of the USA visiting Airforce bases (For example see my Tyndal and New Orleans videos). When we were there the local newspaper read "2 F-15`s crash at Airshow in England" Had my Dad tape BBC`s broadcast of the show, and thats what youre watching now :P
@firefly5339 Well, not really. The first one ejected 1 second after they collided, and the second one lost all control of the aircraft after colliding, so was unable to either point it towards or away from the crowd. Thank God no one was injured. I shed a tear when I see a MiG-29 go down. It's such a cute machine.
Pretty-certain, Alexander Beschastnov (the pilot who cut across the other MiG-29) was killed in 2001, in a crash involving a Russian jet training aircraft - the incident occurring in his native Russia.
You couldn't be more right Sir...I am an American and the "smoking thing" is quite out of control here...I truly apologize for my neighbors here in the U.S on youtube. I get embarrassed a lot.
I was there too, sitting someway up the left hand end of the runway. When the fire started coming out, I thought 'wow! pyrotechnics display!', they didn't look like they were anywhere near each other. Only when I saw it on the news later on I realised my eyes were playing tricks. I remember them announcing on the tannoy for anyone with video of the incident to hand it in, and I thought 'ay up, cover up!'. I wonder if they got it back?
You know, little i admit i know but know what I see; these guys performed an amazing spectacular specticle that just went wrong; thankfully they remained alive and what such amazing carm they remained in following such an amazing accident. There children will be thankful, their wives, relieved, and us on lookers, happy they remain alive. what else can you say for people risking their lives in the name of fun, only for the chance of just maybe, just maybe it may go wrong. Have a heart.
i cant believe i see this fr real i was six yrs old never forget it, as the soldiers ran to help one trod on my foot in big old boots, and the madest thing about it all was the casual pilot!!
American pilots also do it in planes that way only 2/3's as much as these. Apples to apples.. these guys are doing these maneuvers in F-14's... and that.. IS impressive.
When this happened i was on the other side of the world doing a tour of U.S. Bases, which is kinda funny since in 10 years the only IAT i missed was `93 :) But i always heard that it was clouds that got the blame, one of `m entered the top of his loop he lost his bearings, when he came back down he was farther up or down then he was supposed to be.
@m0j0NL The Phantom is one of my favorites too. I grew up in the flight path of March AFB in California and they had B-52's in the 70's and F-4s in the 80's when it became a reserve base. Noting like being at recess in elementary and watching Phantoms streak by in all their smoking glory :)
@BGPOND30 No, there have been 26 Fatalities in 23 separate crashes, this isn't including non fatal accidents. Over the units history it has sustained a 10% death rate which isn't fantastic. As far as i am aware there hasn't been a single fatal airshow accident involving a Russian crewed aircraft since at least 1988.
@tebogomotlhale it's an airshow, the idea is to occupy the small area of air to demonstrate your proficiency of aircraft handling. This kind of thing happens rarely but still occurs a few times a year. Law of average.
@cornflakes002 Both Pilots are/were Test Pilots for the Russian Airforce. it would not surprise me if this was not their first, second or third time they had crashed.
@Warpath2198: No, no, no, no no. Pakistanies have invented many thrilling new variations of aerobatic manoeuvres like the split-S - the aircraft splits into two & the debris field on the ground makes an S pattern. Barrel roll - on the runway - the aircraft makes a ground loop & then rolls over & over. The Cobra - when the pilot discovers at 300 ft that the hissing noises are not because of a defect in the AC but from a live cobra. It is traditionally followed by a split-S or barrel roll.
Oh nothing to take it easy about, just a discussion about Smoke :) And.. you flew Phantoms?. I got the bad luck of having the Phantom as my favorite aircraft, but being born in the early `70`s, hence when i started photography there were no USAFE phantoms left (and i never saw any Spanish, Greek, Turkish phantoms except for the occasional airshow)
@wshagpile Right. You're right man. Thanks to Frecce Tricolori's accident in Ramstein they revisited the security measures. It's impossible to think that people could be UNDER the planes...
"...without causing ANY serious damage." Um? Is it just me, or, did anyone else see that two MIG 29's were SERIOUSLY damaged? Not to mention the Cargo plane on the ground that seems to have sustained at least some damage. I also think two pairs of pilot underwear were SERIOUSLY damaged in the rear end!
@donnyab Actually nobody died in this accident. Where did you get your info? Both pilots ejected safely and one person on the ground received minor injuries. The information is readily available.
This wasn't the 50s, this was 1993. The dangers were well-known by then. No excuse for such reckless behavior, especially considering what was at stake.
@firefly5339 I salute them for performing in an airspace where noone was put in danger. And for their fast reaction. But I guess one of them was shouting through the com when he saw it coming.
@oporim I laugh whenever I see a MiG-29 go down. Now, whenever I see something happen to a Sukhoi Flanker of some sort? I feel really sad inside. Those are just gorgeous.
Nope, propane. They are equipped with 29, 25lbs propane tanks. Cutting edge technology, developed by Russian scientists who saw DIY cable show... MIG 29 name is from the number of propane tanks. 28 of them are used as a fuel and 1 is used for ejection seat. Russians are working now on Vodka powered fighter jet. The code name is MIG 1.0 Sascha. One of the known issues is disappearing fuel from the tanks after each night...
these were russian test pilots who were very experienced, because they had lots of flying hours(soviet era pilots). That's why so little stress and the cigarette,lol...)) But,of course, there was a human mistake during the head-on demo. But remember Rammstein 1988, it could be much worse:(((
