Shocking moment vintage fighter jet crashes down and explodes killing its two crew seconds after performing a low fly-past over spectators at Argentinian airshow
- The jet appeared to have mistimed a stunt and crashed hard into a nearby field
This is the terrifying moment a veteran fighter jet crashed along a road and burst into flames, killing its two-man crew just seconds after an air show.
The Soviet-era L-29 Delfin training plane was performing at an exhibition in Villa Canas, Santa Fe province, Argentina, on November 12 when it burst into flames.
Spectator footage of the performance shows the plane making a very low pass down the runway at 500mph as the excited crowd buzzes.
But seconds later, the plane makes a right turn to perform a loop-the-loop stunt and apparently fails to accelerate in time, being unable to accelerate in time to to correct the error.
As the crowd gasps in horror, the plane hurtles towards the ground, bursts into flames and crashes into a field, meters from a busy road.
Police named the plane’s co-pilot as Gaston Vanucci and its pilot as aerial acrobatics specialist Gaston Vanucci. Both died before rescuers could reach the plane.
The Soviet-era L-29 Delfin training aircraft had just completed a fly-past during the Argentina show
The plane turned to perform a loop-the-loop stunt, but apparently failed to accelerate in time
L29s became a mainstay of the Soviet Air Force in communist Eastern Europe after entering production in 1959.
The Czech-made two-seaters were used to train fighter pilots and were often adapted for combat roles as fighter-bombers.
Villa Canas fire chief Horacio Pereyra told local media that the plane “crashed a few meters from the spot where the public witnessed the spectacle.”
Pereyra said the plane “made a low flight and when it crossed the runway on one of the runways, it made a half turn and then crashed to the ground.”
Officials from the air club that organized the demonstration said: ‘The plane made a low flight over the pole and as it took off, while making a turn, it landed on its tip.
‘There were two people on board the plane, a fighter plane. It’s a Russian plane with a pilot and a passenger in the back.’
Mayor Norberto Gizzi of Villa Canas said: “We are all moved by the event and stunned because everyone who was at the event was surprised to see how the plane fell.”
From a distance you could see the plane diving towards the ground as the crowd watched in horror
The plane crashed towards the ground, burst into flames and crashed into a field
Smoke billowed after the plane suddenly crashed into the ground, killing both on board
The Aero L-29 Delfin was introduced in 1961, built as a military trainer aircraft with light attack functionality.
It was Czechoslovakia’s first locally designed and built jet aircraft and was used for training purposes in the Warsaw Pact countries during the Cold War.
More than 3,500 were produced between 1963 and 1974 – and some were reported to have seen combat in the Nigerian Civil War and against Israel during the Yom Kippur War.
Angola and Georgia would still use the planes from 2022.