The MiG-23 was participating in “Thunder over Michigan” airshow at Willow Run Airport.
Two pilots ejected from a privately owned two-seat MiG-23UB Flogger, registration N23UB/1038107, participating within the Thunder Over Michigan airshow at Willow Run Airport, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at 16.15LT on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023.
The pilots ejected and landed in Belleville Lake based on the media reports, whereas the jet crashed close to the Waverly on the Lake Flats in Belleville.
“The pilot and backseater efficiently ejected from the plane earlier than the crash,” Wayne County Airport Authority said. “Whereas it didn’t seem they sustained any vital accidents, first responders transported the pair to a close-by hospital as a precaution.”
Movies circulating on social media present the MiG-23UB on a left flip at low altitude earlier than the 2 crew members eject.
@RyanEFox2 #Thunderovermichigan Crash… Pilots ejecting 😳 so scary pic.twitter.com/P5mNsZenzY
— Marsha Bogardus (@3Scorpios) August 13, 2023
Video of airplane crashing on the Thunder Over Michigan Air Present and pilots parachuting. Hoping everyone seems to be okay. #thunderovermichigan pic.twitter.com/RtAAjw7OVV
— Dan Phillips (@danphillips46) August 13, 2023
Extra video from the second the pilots of the MiG-23 ejected into the water and the airplane hit the aspect of an condominium constructing. pic.twitter.com/zT902EVCfd
— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) August 13, 2023
The MiG-23UB, the one non-public Flogger on this planet, was owned by former U.S. Navy pilot Dan Flier who runs a well-liked Instagram page offering updates on the N23UB in addition to different Floggers within the technique of being restored.
The stricken plane had been one of many highlights of the SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo at Lakeland, Florida, in April, and, extra not too long ago, the EAA’s AirVenture airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
David Cenciotti is a journalist based mostly in Rome, Italy. He’s the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of many world’s most well-known and skim army aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for main worldwide magazines, together with Air Forces Month-to-month, Fight Plane, and lots of others, masking aviation, protection, warfare, trade, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown a number of fight planes with completely different air forces. He’s a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Power, a non-public pilot and a graduate in Pc Engineering. He has written 5 books and contributed to many extra ones.
