Investigation into military plane crash in Zhytomyr Oblast: Aircraft were serviceable, sabotage refuted by evidence

The investigation into the August 2023 plane crash in Zhytomyr Oblast, which killed three Ukrainian Air Force pilots, is still ongoing; however, the investigation has rejected the possibility of a sabotage because it is not supported by evidence.

Source: Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) in a comment at the request of Ukrainska Pravda 

Details: The SBI reported that the pre-trial investigation into the crash of two L-39 military aircraft on 25 August 2023 in Zhytomyr Oblast, which killed three pilots and destroyed the aircraft, is still ongoing.

It is reported that 12 forensic examinations were conducted to determine the circumstances and causes of the crash, including a comprehensive, commission, forensic, engineering and transport, military, computer-technical (into the information contained on the seized flight recorders from these aircraft), commodity, forensic, and other examinations.

According to the bureau, these examinations are now nearing completion.

Previous investigations and expert opinions determined that both aircraft were in technically sound condition at the time of the air collision. The evidence collected during the pre-trial investigation refutes the possibility of sabotage being the cause of the crash.

Quote SBI: "The pre-trial investigation body will be able to draw conclusions about the final causes of this disaster and the possible causal link with its occurrence as a result of the actions or inaction of specific flight management group officials or the pilots themselves only after receiving and analysing all of the above-mentioned forensic examination conclusions and evaluating other collected evidence."

Background:

• On August 26, it was revealed that a well-known pilot known as Juice, as well as two other pilots, died as a result of a collision between two Ukrainian training and combat aircraft on the evening before in Zhytomyr Oblast. According to the Vasylkiv 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade, pilots Viacheslav Minka and Serhii Prokazin, as well as Andrii Pilshchykov (Juice’s actual name), were killed in the crash.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that all the circumstances of the crash of training aircraft in Zhytomyr Oblast would be established.
• The State Bureau of Investigation reported that among the avenues of investigation of the crash of two training aircraft in Zhytomyr Oblast they considered a technical malfunction of the aircraft, a pilot error, and a violation in flight organisation. The crash occurred due to the collision of two planes during a turnaround manoeuvre.

Reference: Andrii "Juice" Pilshchykov, originally from Kharkiv, dedicated eight years of his life to aviation. He had more than 500 flight hours when Russia launched its full-scale invasion. In particular, while carrying out combat missions in difficult conditions. He received several state and departmental awards.

He was a pilot in the Air Command Centre's 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade, a group of pilots known as the Ghost of Kyiv for their brave actions in defending the capital and the surrounding oblast from Russian aircraft.

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