On 24 July 1993 at 15:17 hrs (local time), a pair of Mig-29's of the Russian Flight Research Institute took off in close formation to commence their flight display at the RAF Fairford International Air Tattoo. The cloud was scattered at 3000ft (914m), visibility was excellent & surface-wind was down-runway 8kts (4m/sec). The display was going smoothly until the final set, which was simultaneous loops commenced from long line astern , prior to break to the land. The leader, who pulled up first, carried out a normal loop. The aircraft entered the cloud at the top. Number 2 commenced his loop afterwards, executed a tighter loop and experienced difficulties within the cloud. At some stage during the task, both pilots lost visual contact with each other & called it. As a result of Number 2's tighter loop, the leader was lower and not far enough from Number 2 (as he expected he would be). The Leader decided to carry out his break to downwind , believing that this way it would take him out of the flight-path of Number 2. Shortly after commencing his break, the left wing of the Leader impacted the fuselage of Number 2. Both aircraft became uncontrollable. Both Pilots ejected successfully and landed uninjured. One aircraft impacted to the North-East of the airfield, 700m (2,300ft) away from the crowd line, while the other one crashed on the perimeter fence. Remarkably, only one person on the ground received minor injuries.
(Thanks to tsobanian for the above description)
We have one of those cockpit sections and various related parts on display in our museum.
Nowhere else will you be within inches of such a unique exhibit.
To watch a video of the crash, click on the picture below.
