Sknyliv air show disaster

The Sknyliv air show disaster (Скнилівська трагедія) occurred on 27 July 2002, when a Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi Su-27UB aircraft, piloted by Volodymyr Toponar (of the Ukrainian Falcons) and co-piloted by Yuriy Yegorov, crashed into spectators during an aerobatics presentation at Sknyliv airfield near Lviv, Ukraine. The accident killed 77 people and injured 543. It is the deadliest air show accident in history.

Crash

More than 10,000 spectators attended the air show, staged to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Ukrainian Air Force's 14th Air Corps. The Su-27UB aircraft, a twin-seat trainer variant of the Sukhoi Su-27, was flown by two experienced pilots; it entered a rolling maneuver at 12:52 p.m. with a downward trajectory at low altitude. It rolled upright once more and was still descending rapidly when the left wing dropped shortly before it hit the ground, at which point the crew initiated ejection. The aircraft flattened out initially, before skidding over the ground towards stationary aircraft and striking a glancing blow against the nose of an Ilyushin Il-76, at which point the jet exploded and cartwheeled into the crowd of spectators.

Both pilots survived with minor injuries, while 77 spectators were killed, including 28 children. Another 100 were hospitalized for head injuries, burns, and bone fractures. Other injuries were less severe and did not require hospitalization. A total of 543 people were injured in the accident. Some bystanders suffered serious mental trauma from what they saw.

Following the disaster, the pilots stated that the flight map which they had received differed from the actual layout. On the cockpit voice recorder, one pilot asks, "And where are our spectators?" Others have suggested that the pilots were slow to react to automated warnings issued by the flight computer.