Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Investigators into the fatal crash in which 2 military pilots were killed:

Seven seconds of communication missing between tower and the L-39 ZA aircraft

Photo: MoD

Right before the two military pilots training for an air show crashed their plane in the critical seven seconds of the flight there was no communication between the tower and the plane. This is shown by the recordings of the conversations between the Flight control and the crew, BNT reported.


Major Petko Dimitrov and 1st Lieutenant Ventsislav Dunkin were killed on September 13 this year when their L-39 ZA aircraft crashed during training for an air show to mark the 20th anniversary of Bulgaria's accession to NATO.


The report by the Military Police and the Ministry of Defence has been handed over to the Military District Prosecutor's Office in Plovdiv. An aviation-technical forensic examination is to be appointed to establish the correctness of the actions of the flight participants both in the plane and on the ground.
When asked who should have made the decision to abort the manoeuvre, Hristo Anchev replied: "The flight operations director has the authority to abort the maneuver if he decides that it should not be continued, that it is extremely dangerous."
Work on the report will begin next week and will include a detailed examination of the wreckage of the crashed aircraft and the testimony of more than 30 witnesses who have been interviewed.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Balkan Stream pipeline exempted from US sanctions on Gazprombank transactions until March 2025

The Balkan Stream gas pipeline will not be subject to US sanctions for transactions with Russia's Gazprombank. This was revealed in a written answer to a parliamentary question to Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov. On December 23, 2024, the Ministry of..

published on 2/16/25 9:45 AM
Timco Mucunski (L) and Georg Georgiev (R)

North Macedonia's EU membership goes through the inclusion of Bulgarians in its constitution

Bulgaria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Georg Georgiev met with North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski during the Munich Security Conference. Georg Georgiev emphasized that Bulgaria's position regarding the European integration of North..

published on 2/15/25 5:25 PM

Temperatures will go down on Sunday, snow is expected in Northeastern Bulgaria

The weather will be cloudy during the next 24 hours. Snow will fall in the northeastern part of Bulgaria, which will spread to many regions of Northern Bulgaria during the day. It will rain in the southern parts of the country. Snowfall will be..

published on 2/15/25 5:20 PM