Site of the crash of MiG-29 fighter aircraft into the Black sea was established, search for black box continues
The location where a Bulgarian Air Force MiG-29 fighter aircraft crashed in the Black Sea in the early hours of June 9 during a nighttime training exercise has been confirmed.
Debris from the crashed aircraft is scattered across a large area on the sea bed. The black box has not been found, Commander of the Navy, Rear Admiral Kiril Mihailov, told a briefing for the media on June 17.
The plane shattered into thousands of small pieces. Hopes to find a larger part that could be easily taken out later, and to remove the black box from it, were dashed, Rear Admiral Kiril Mihailov said.
The MiG-29 fighter jet went down into the sea 18 kilometres away from Cape Shabla. Parts of the landing gear and the engine were found at great depth. The search for the plane's black box continues.
In the collision with the sea surface, the plane broke into thousands of small pieces. Some of the remains of the MiG-29 fighter were found on a large area of the seabed. Sea waves in the area of the plane crash allowed the search for the black box to continue.
Specialists on board the minesweeper "Tsibar". are currently surveying the area and all the remains are being carefully examined by remote-controlled underwater inspection devices.
"But our goal is not to lift anything from the bottom, our goal is to find the black box," said Rear Admiral Kiril Mihailov, commander of the Navy.
The search operation is on an area of one square kilometre and more than 70 m deep in the sea
"It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. So the probability of finding it is very, very small, which doesn't stop us from continuing the search," Rear Admiral Kiril Mihailov added.
In an emotional post on Facebook a few days ago, the wife of the deceased pilot Valentin Terziev defended his professional skills, emphasizing that according to her, on the fatal night the flight of the fighter aircraft was conducted all the time with a number of mistakes. According to Reserve General Spas Spasov, chairman of the Bulgarian Air Force Foundation, the dead pilot's wife has the right to ask questions, but is convinced the truth will not be hidden.
"This is difficult, because the plane crash often leaves a lot of questions and it is not possible to get to the real thing that caused this crash," Spasov said.
The search for the black box and the wreckage will continue until they are found. The Navy has the necessary equipment and it is not necessary to seek help from other countries, Rear Admiral Mihailov added.
The search and rescue operation of Major Valentin Terziev started immediately after the tragic incident. It lasted until 10 a.m. on June 10, when it became clear that the pilot could not be found and that if he had ejected, he would have been saved.
The next stage of the search operation started. Parts of the plane's equipment were found, which were removed from the water surface and handed over to the Military Prosecutor's Office, which has launched an investigation. Then biological material was discovered.
The operation involved 4 ships from the Navy, 2 helicopters, 3 cutters, a total of 260 people from the Navy and 21 people from the border police.
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A Bulgarian Air Force MiG-29 crashed into the Black Sea in the early hours of June 9 while taking part in the Shabla 21 training exercise. The plane crashed in the open sea near Shabla
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defence said on June 10 said that during the search operation it was found that the pilot of the fighter aircraft, Major Valentin Terziev, died on June 9 during the training exercise for shooting at an air target (illuminated parachute target) at night.
