Bulgaria cancels military air show after L-39 jet crashes
Bulgaria’s caretaker Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov issued an order on September 13 cancelling an air show that had been scheduled for September 14 after a L-39 ZA jet aircraft crashed during rehearsals, the Defence Ministry said.
There was no immediate official information about casualties.
The Defence Ministry said that actions were underway to contain fires and establish the causes of the incident.
The air show, to have been held at the Graf Ignatievo air base, was scheduled to mark the 20th anniversary of Bulgaria’s admission to Nato and 35 years since the Soviet-era MiG-29 went into service with the Bulgarian Air Force.
Designed in the 1960s and put into service in the 1970s, the Aero L-39 Albatros is a high-performance jet trainer designed and produced by Aero Vodochody in the Czech Republic.
During 1972, the L-39 Albatros was formally recognized by the majority of the countries comprising the Warsaw Pact – of which Bulgaria was then a member – as their preferred primary trainer, after which point, sizable orders from military customers throughout the bloc proceeded, many of which were from the Soviet Air Forces.
In 1974, the first L-39 trainer entered service with the Czechoslovak Air Force, and entered service in Bulgaria in 1986.
Bulgaria had 36 of the two-seater aircraft, but most have been decomissioned. Reportedly, between four and six were in service.
Earlier on September 13, Bulgarian President Roumen Radev – a former commander of the Bulgarian Air Force – travelled in an F-16 at Graf Ignatievo as co-pilot.
Graf Ignatievo is in the process of being readied to be the base for the US-manufactured Lockheed Martin F-16s that the Bulgarian Air Force is acquiring to bring it up to Nato standards, phasing out the ageing MiG-29s.
(Screenshot of video posted by Bulgarian National Television)
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