Belarusians bid farewell to dead Air Force pilots

LIDA, 21 May (BelTA) – Memory about the fallen pilots and their heroic deed will always remain in our hearts. Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin made the statement in Lida on 21 May during a farewell ceremony for the Air Force pilots killed in an aircraft crash in Baranovichi on 19 May, BelTA has learned.

The farewell ceremony took place in the club of the 116th Assault Airbase where Major Andrei Nichiporchik and Lieutenant Nikita Kukonenko had served. Their bodies had been delivered from Baranovichi by air the day before.

The defense minister offered condolence on behalf of the head of state and the army to the families of the dead pilots. “We bid farewell to our heroes. What happened cannot be fixed but memory about the pilots and their heroic deed will always remain in our hearts. The guys did not abandon the virtually uncontrollable aircraft and steered it away from residential buildings. They paid with their lives for it. The deed indicates that courageous and brave people serve in our Armed Forces,” Viktor Khrenin stressed.

Hundreds of people turned up to bid one last farewell to the pilots – friends and families of the fallen pilots, fellow airmen, representatives of the Defense Ministry, law enforcement and security agencies, municipal authorities, and residents of Lida. The day before Lida residents also brought flowers and candles to the aircraft monument in Leninskaya Street.

The tragedy happened on 19 May. A Yak-130 aircraft of the Lida-based assault airbase crashed during a training flight above Baranovichi. The crew was killed – the flight commander of the training and combat squadron of the 116th Assault Airbase, Major Andrei Vladimirovich Nichiporchik and a pilot of the training and combat squadron of the 116th Assault Airbase, Lieutenant Nikita Borisovich Kukonenko.

Military pilots who died in plane crash in Baranovichi hailed as heroes

Before hosting a meeting to discuss social, economic and political situation in Minsk, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko commented on the military aircraft crash that took place in Baranovichi on 19 May.

The time between the moment the emergency occurred and the moment the aircraft crashed was slightly more than one minute. Through incredible effort at an altitude of about 50 meters the crew managed to stabilize the direction of the flight and steer the Yak-130 to the only spot free from residential houses.

Lukashenko offers deep condolences to families of 2 pilots killed in plane crash near Baranovichi

“Yes, of course, the president is aware, he was promptly informed about the accident. He gave all the necessary instructions regarding the investigation of the catastrophe, is keeping an eye on it and is waiting for the results,” the press secretary said.

“Unfortunately, before the guaranteed fall to this spot the crew did not have enough altitude to safely eject. After examining the flight data recorder we can see that the crew was manipulating the control stick and the pedals right until the aircraft hit the ground,” Chief of the Air Force and Air Defense Command of the Armed Forces of Belarus, Major-General Igor Golub said the day before.