How the world’s deadliest air show took place in Ukraine | World News

The deadliest air disaster ever recorded has occurred on Europe’s doorstep, in Ukraine.

Air shows such as Farnborough are supposed to be a highlight for those who attend.

But the atmosphere at air shows can change in a split second when powerful engines and humans collide.

The Sknyliv air show disaster near Lviv, Ukraine, in 2002 is a sad reminder of this.

More than 10,000 people gathered to enjoy the show held at Sknyliv airfield on July 27, in honor of the 60th anniversary of the 14th Air Corps of the Ukrainian Air Force.

But it all went horribly wrong, leaving 77 dead and 543 injured.

Fighter jet crashes into spectators

Spectators were entertained by experienced pilots and aircraft, including the Russian Sukhoi Su-27 aircraft which was preparing to perform breathtaking aerobatics, a typical stunt at air shows.

Shortly before 1 p.m., the fighter jet pilots began to fly at low altitude.

The plane was in a rapid descent when its left wing suddenly collapsed and the plane hit the ground with disastrous consequences.

Pilot Volodymyr Toponar and co-pilot Yuriy Yegorov managed to eject after realizing things had gone horribly wrong, surviving with only minor injuries.

After the pilots ejected, the wings hit the top of a tree, the BBC reported at the time.

However, the plane did not stop once it touched the ground: it continued to roll before hitting the nose of an Ilyyshin Il-76MD transport plane and hitting people.

The car then wheeled before exploding in a horrific fireball that rained down on the shocked audience who had little hope of escape.

Families had to wait in anguish to find out what had happened to their loved ones in hospitals.

Svetlana Atamaniuk told The Associated Press she lost her daughter and granddaughters while waiting outside a crowded morgue.

She said, “My only daughter, her husband and their two daughters are lying in there.”

The day was declared a national day of mourning as authorities attempted to recover and identify victims in Sknyliv.

They said identifying the victims was “extremely difficult” because many bodies were torn to pieces by metal shrapnel on the plane, the BBC reported.

Blame game for disaster

The accident left 77 people dead and hundreds of injured were rushed to hospital.

After the dust settled, the pilots were taken before a military tribunal, Simple Flying reports.

In court, the men claimed that the map of the airfield they were given was different from the actual layout.

They also claimed they were denied a request for an additional rehearsal flight before the show in their defense.

The prosecution claimed the pilots attempted a complicated manoeuvre they had never performed before and failed to react quickly enough to warnings from the flight instructor. The investigation found that spectators were left too close to the flight line and that the flight area was also too small.

The blame game reached the highest echelons of Ukrainian society after then-President Leonid Kuchma publicly accused the military.

He then dismissed the head of the air force, General Viktor Strelnykov, the media reports.

Three years after the tragedy, Mr Toponar and Mr Yegorov were sentenced by a military court to 14 and eight years in prison respectively, although Yegorov was released in 2008 after his sentence was reduced by the president.

Three other soldiers were also sentenced after being found guilty of negligence and failure to follow orders.

Pilot Toponar insisted that the crash was caused by technical problems and a faulty flight plan.

Crash at Shoreham Airshow 2015

Further fatal accidents have occurred since then at air shows, particularly in the UK, despite safety improvements.

The devastating Shoreham disaster killed 11 people and injured 13 others during protests in Sussex on August 22, nine years ago.

Eyewitnesses described how a “huge fireball” wreaked havoc, with one survivor describing the scene as something straight out of a Hollywood movie.

Following the disaster, the UK Civil Aviation Authority conducted a review of regulations for civil air shows, which recommended several changes, including improved public safety.

The CAA said air shows were Britain’s “second largest outdoor public attraction”.

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