- The fighter jet appeared to mistime a stunt and crashed violently into a nearby field
This is the horrific moment a veteran fighter jet crashed next to a road, bursting into flames and killing its two-man crew just seconds after an air show flyby.
The Soviet-era L-29 Delfin training jet was performing a demonstration in Villa Canas, Argentina’s Santa Fe province, on November 12 when it burst into flames.
Audience footage of the performance shows the jet flying over the runway at 500 miles per hour at a very low altitude, delighting the enthusiastic audience.
But seconds later, the jet turns right to perform a loop-the-loop stunt and apparently fails to stop in time, unable to stop in time to correct the error.
As the crowd gasps in horror, the jet hurtles toward the ground, bursts into flames, and crashes into a field just meters from a busy road.
Police named the plane’s co-pilot 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 jet had just completed a flyby at the show in Argentina
The jet turned around to perform a loop-the-loop stunt but apparently failed to arrive in time
The L29s became a mainstay of Soviet air forces throughout communist Eastern Europe after entering production in 1959.
The two-seaters manufactured in the Czech Republic were used to train fighter pilots and were often converted for combat use as fighter-bombers.
Villa Canas fire chief Horacio Pereyra told local media that the plane crashed “a few meters from where the public was watching the spectacle.”
Pereyra said the jet “made a low flight and as it crossed the runway at one of the runways, it made a half turn and then crashed to the ground.”
Officials from the aviation club that hosted the exhibition said: “The aircraft flew low over the pole and landed on its side while turning as it took off.”
“There were two people on board the aircraft, which is a combat aircraft. It’s a Russian plane with a pilot and a passenger in the back.’
Villa Canas Mayor Norberto Gizzi said: “We are all moved and stunned by the event because everyone who was at the event was surprised to see the plane crash.”
In the distance the plane could be seen plummeting towards the ground as the crowd watched in horror
The jet hurtled towards the ground, burst into flames and crashed into a field
Smoke billowed after the jet suddenly plunged into the ground, killing both on board
The Aero L-29 Delfin was introduced in 1961 as a military trainer aircraft with a light attack role.
It was Czechoslovakia’s first locally designed and built jet aircraft and was used for training purposes in all Warsaw Pact countries during the Cold War.
More than 3,500 examples were made between 1963 and 1974 – and some were reportedly used in the Nigerian Civil War and the Yom Kippur War against Israel.
Angola and Georgia are still expected to use the aircraft as of 2022.
Shocking moment: A vintage fighter jet crashes and explodes, killing its two crew members, seconds after flying low over spectators at the Argentine air show