2024 Graf Ignatievo air crash

The crash of an "Aero L-39ZA Albatros" military training aircraft in service with the Bulgarian Air Force occurred on 13 September 2024 during a training flight and preparation for air displays marking 20 years since the admission of the Republic of Bulgaria to NATO and 35 years of the "MiG-29" aircraft in service with the Bulgarian Air Force. The aircraft crashed into the terrain near the 3rd Air Base in Graf Ignatievo, Bulgaria; the machine was completely destroyed, and both crew members, Major Petko Dimitrov and Senior Lieutenant Ventsislav Dunkin, were killed in the incident.

Minister of Defence Atanas Zapryanov cancelled the air show at the 3rd Air Base because of the crash, and three days of mourning were declared in the Ministry of Defence of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Army and the structures directly subordinate to the Minister of Defence. The cause of the incident is being investigated by the Military Prosecutor's Office. The Bulgarian authorities sent the aircraft's "black box" to the country of manufacture, the Czech Republic, where it was read out, and according to the initial analysis the cause of the crash was "flight at extremely low altitude before a vertical climb".

One month later, on 15 October 2024, a state expert in the Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Department announced at a Ministry of Defence briefing that the cause of the crash was "the taking of high risk in aerobatics on the part of the two pilots". The low speed during the manoeuvre also contributed to the incident, and the insufficient altitude of 68 m, together with a speed of 455 km/h, did not allow the crew to complete it in the vertical plane, and it had a second and a half to eject. The conclusion of the commission is that the entry of the aircraft into a vertical figure with these flight parameters is deepened into a complex.