Over the weekend, a MiG-23 crashed in Michigan while flying in the Thunder Over Michigan air show. There were no fatalities or injuries in the incident.

Crash with no fatalities

The MiG-23 that crashed in Michigan was the only airworthy MiG-23 in North America and was recently at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. On Sunday, it was performing a demonstration at Thunder Over Michigan air show when both pilots ejected from the cockpit before the aircraft crashed. The Russian fighter jet went down at an apartment complex in Belleville.

The pilots landed in a lake and were not injured but were transported to a nearby hospital as a precaution. The jet landed in the apartment complex's parking lot and damaged several vehicles that fortunately, were unoccupied and did not injure anyone in the vicinity. The show was canceled after the crash, and airborne aircraft were diverted to other airports.

Video of the incident shared on Twitter shows the two pilots ejecting, evident because of two “bursts of flames” and the canopy popping off. The aircraft then crashes, leading to a big fireball and loads of thick, black smoke. Emergency crews arrived minutes later and were able to extinguish the flames.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) posted shortly after the incident,

“NTSB investigating the Aug. 13 crash of a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 near Ypsilanti, Michigan.”

The Thunder Over Michigan air show takes place annually; this year was the 25th anniversary. The show was founded as a fundraiser for the Yankee Air Museum in Belleville.

About the aircraft and its owner

The MiG-23 was the only airworthy example of the Cold War era fighter in North America, though Dan Filer, the owner and pilot of the aircraft, has stated it was the only “privately owned flying MiG-23 in the world.” Filer is a former United States Navy pilot, airline pilot, and classic jet collector. The MiG-23 was recently restored to its airworthy condition and appeared in just two air shows before Thunder Over Michigan.

Filer has a company that owns several MiG-23s, nine to be exact, following yesterday’s incident. Filer hopes to restore as many of the fighter jets as possible, with the second restoration set to be completed soon. Surely the flying displays the two MiGs would have performed would have been incredible, drawing many aviation enthusiasts (avgeeks) from all over the world.

The MiG was involved in a recent incident at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where the aircraft canopy flew off mid-demonstration. Filer was able to repair the aircraft quickly and get it in airworthy condition to perform more demonstrations. Throughout the week, the MiG-23 was not the only Soviet jet to feature in demonstrations; there was also a MiG-17 and MiG-29. The Oshkosh airshow is one of the largest in the world, and this year, it attracted about 677,000 spectators from 93 countries.

Source: This Is Flight