Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov has made the decision to cancel the air show at the Graf Ignatievo Air Base following a fatal crash involving an L-39 ZA military transport plane. The tragic accident took place during the preparations for upcoming events marking Bulgaria's 20th anniversary of joining NATO. The aircraft, while performing a complex maneuver at an extremely low altitude, crashed at the Graf Ignatievo airbase, resulting in the untimely deaths of the two pilots on board.
In response to the crash, an investigation has been initiated to determine the factors leading to the tragic incident. Immediate actions have been taken to locate the fires and establish the root causes of the accident. The Defence Ministry is actively working to unravel the circumstances surrounding the crash of the L-39 trainer aircraft, as the nation mourns the loss of the pilots who had no opportunity to eject before the crash. In light of this tragic event, President Rumen Radev participated as a co-pilot in a demonstration flight of an F-16 fighter jet at the same airbase earlier, at the invitation of the US Air Force.
The L-39 trainer aircraft has been a part of Bulgaria's military aviation since 1994 when the country acquired 36 such planes from Czechoslovakia. However, in 2014, only 6 of these aircraft were reported to be operational, with the rest undergoing repairs within the Bulgarian military-industrial complex, as reported by BNT. In honor of the fallen pilots, three days of mourning have been declared within the formations of the armed forces, highlighting the somber atmosphere following the tragic plane crash at the Graf Ignatievo Air Base.