Both heavy fighters that collided in the skies of the Moscow region were part of the world-famous Russian Knights aerobatic team.

The commander of this unit, Igor Tkachenko, died in the plane crash. The remains of the pilot were found near the village of Zakharikha - next to the ejection seat and parachute.

The pilots of another two-seater “drying” also managed to escape the falling plane, but landed alive.

President Dmitry Medvedev expressed deep and sincere condolences to the family and friends of Igor Tkachenko in connection with the tragic death of the honored pilot.

The head of the information and public relations service of the Russian Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Drik, told the RG correspondent that the flights were carried out in preparation for the International Aviation and Space Salon, which opens tomorrow at the airfield in Zhukovsky. An Air Force representative confirmed that the emergency occurred as a result of a mid-air collision between a single-seat Su-27 combat fighter and a two-seat Su-27UB combat trainer from the famous Russian aerobatic team. A commission of the Ministry of Defense and the Air Force General Staff was created to investigate the accident. But it is already known that the criminal version of the fighter collision has been ruled out - the planes touched each other while performing an aerobatic maneuver.

For now, this version is considered a priority. According to Honored Test Pilot Anatoly Kvochur, the deterioration of the aircraft could have played an indirect role in the plane crash (see more below - editor's note).

It is also known that the car collision occurred during a joint flight of the Russian Knights and Swifts aerobatic teams. Nine aircraft took part in the flight - five Su-27 and Su-30 fighters from the Russian Knights group and four MiG-29 fighters from the Swifts aerobatic team. The flight was successful, and after the group was divided into two, the “Russian Knights” left the piloting zone for subsequent restructuring. At this very time the fighters collided. For some unknown reason, the “dryers” did not fly apart, but got caught on each other by the tail unit.

According to law enforcement agencies, both planes crashed into a field near two villages in the Ramensky district. According to the deputy head of the city of Zhukovsky, Ivan Smirnov, there was no damage within the city. Debris caused damage in a suburban dacha cooperative. According to preliminary data from the scene, as a result of fighter jets falling on a garden cooperative, 3 residential buildings and a garage with an expensive car were completely burned down. A woman who lived in one of the houses destroyed by fire received burns. When the house caught fire, she tried to save her husband.

“The regulations for holding demonstration performances have been fully developed and have been in use for more than one year,” said the honorary president of the air show, Hero of Russia Magomed Tolboev, after the emergency. – Despite the incident, training before the MAKS-2009 air show and performances in the sky during the exhibition will take place as planned. According to him, “never in the practice of air shows, both ours and foreign ones, are flights suspended.”

The military prosecutor's office began an investigation into the aircraft collision, and a criminal case was opened under the article “violation of traffic safety rules and operation of air transport, resulting in the death of a person through negligence.”

Yesterday evening, eminent foreign guests of MAKS-2009 arrived at the Ramenskoye airfield - Italian pilots from the Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team and French aces from the Patrol de France. They paid tribute to the memory of their fallen Russian colleagues.

This is not the first incident with Russian Knights aircraft. On December 12, 1995, while landing to refuel at the Vietnamese Cam Ranh airfield, three fighters of this group collided with a mountain due to unsatisfactory organization of flights in difficult weather conditions. Then four pilots died.

Let us remind you that “Russian Knights” is an aerobatics team of the Russian Air Force. Created on April 5, 1991 on the basis of the 237th Guards Proskurov Red Banner Order of Kutuzov and Alexander Nevsky Aviation Regiment from the best pilots of the Kubinka airbase near Moscow and other garrisons in Russia.

Worn out planes?

Four years ago, in 2005, he wrote in the “Independent Military Review” about the deterioration of the equipment of the “Swifts” and “Russian Knights”. Robert Ignatievich Bykov – publicist, reserve colonel.

The aircraft used at shows in the 70s and 80s lasted no more than two years, as everything was squeezed out of it. Nowadays aerobatic teams fly aircraft that are twenty years old. At the last exhibition in Abu Dhabi last year, we managed to outshine Mirages 2005. After the flights, the Arabs came up and asked: “Why are you flying such old planes?” They answered: “And our armored train is standing on a siding.”

After all, “Russian Knights”, like “Swifts”, are the face of Russian aviation, and aerobatic team pilots are the national elite. If we lose aerobatic teams, we will lose the face of our aviation.

The world's only aviation aerobatic team (APG) “Russian Knights” was created on the basis of the 237th Guards Proskurov Red Banner Order of Kutuzov and Alexander Nevsky air regiment from the best pilots of the Kubinka airbase near Moscow and other garrisons in Russia. It is part of the Aviation Equipment Display Center named after. I.N. Kozhedub. The foreign debut of the Russian Knights APG took place in September 1991 in the skies of Great Britain, in Farnborough, where our pilots amazed the world with a cascade of aerobatics. Now they perform such unique aerobatic maneuvers as “Bell”, “Tulip”, “Pugacheva Cobra”. The group performed as part of six fighters, and recently as part of four and even two. There is always a shortage of top-class aerobatic pilots and modern, serviceable aircraft.

It is still possible to recruit and train aerobatic pilots throughout Russia, although there are problems with them. But equipping them with new aircraft is very bad. Back on January 11, 2002, Air Force Commander-in-Chief Anatoly Kornukov said: “All three aerobatic teams: “Vityazi”, “Swifts”, “Heavenly Hussars” have been revived. The Vityazis have changed generations of pilots and are now flying new Su-27Ms. They don’t really like this modification yet.”

Much later, at the air show in Gelendzhik, I personally managed to talk in an informal setting with members of the Russian Knights aerobatic team: Igor Tkachenko, Igor Kachkovsky, Igor Shpak and Oleg Ryapolov.

Before this, we, together with the head of the Center for Combat Use and Retraining of Air Force Flight Personnel, General Alexander Nikolaevich Kharchevsky, observed the paired flight of Tkachenko and Kachkovsky. At some point, one of them “under-twisted the barrel,” and an emergency situation almost arose. It seemed that the multi-ton colossus was about to collide. Kharchevsky noted with great concern: “They fly without a reserve, but we need to perform the figures with a reserve in speed and altitude. Still, no one here understands the degree of risk.”

The commander of the APG “Russian Knights” Igor Tkachenko said something like this: “We already have nothing to fly with. Of the two-seater aircraft equipped with a modern international-level navigation system, we still have three twin Su-27s at our disposal: one has a guarantee reserve of 57 hours of flight time, the other has 37 hours, and the third is already “on the fence.” The aircraft that the Air Force gave us were developments abandoned in the middle of developmental modifications. They could not be sent to a combat unit, so they were sent to us. I flew on this plane and will not put any pilot on it, as it is unsafe. You can’t look at the cockpit of this plane without tears. There is no ergonomics in the cabin: the pedal cannot be fully pressed without some tricks. Piloting is extremely difficult. We were forced to make an extraordinary decision: remove the engines from these aircraft and use them on our old aircraft. At first they didn’t quite fit, but after modification at the Moscow Salyut plant they fit.”

For reference: the Su-35 (Su-27M) aircraft is a modernized Su-27, the tests of which were not completed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau. The work was stopped due to lack of funding. They produced 12 of them and sent them to the Air Force and aerobatic teams. You can fly them, but you cannot fight: the SUV, avionics and other onboard systems do not work as a whole.

Air Force Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Mikhailov himself in June 2004, in response to a journalist’s question: “Will our Air Force purchase Su-35 aircraft?” - answered:

“We will take a certain number of these aircraft, at least in order to provide export support to our industrial enterprises, but again we will proceed from the “efficiency-cost” criterion. The price of the Su-35 is more than $30 million.” The assessment and forecast are of very dubious quality.

After the tragedy in Vietnam, in Cam Ranh (in December 1995, two Su-27 and Su-30 “Russian Knights” collided with a mountain in low clouds), the famous designer Mikhail Korzhuev provided one “side” of the “Russian Knights” with modern navigation systems and this The twin became the leader on all flights, especially long-distance ones.

The issue of equipping the “Russian Knights” group with aircraft can be resolved to the maximum extent possible through a state targeted order for specially equipped 5 aircraft, but there is little hope for such a solution to the issue due to the limitations of the state defense order.

After the triumphant flight of the five “Russian Knights” and “Swifts” over Red Square on May 9, 2005, at a reception in the Kremlin, President Putin asked a number of questions about the prospects of the “Russian Knights” aerobatic team to its commander Igor Tkachenko, who said literally the following: “My personal opinion and the opinion of all the pilots of our aerobatic team, as well as pilots from the Lipetsk training center, is that the Su-30MKI aircraft (Indian version) are most suitable for solving the problems of pilot training, long-distance piloting and demonstration performances. The President listened carefully to the opinion of the best pilot in Russia.

The second option is more realistic: there are modernized SU-30KN fighters that are not used in Zhukovsky. Commander-in-Chief Mikhailov demands that they be restored to their original state, but no one will give money for this. So they will rust on the ground, and their resource, the navigation system, suits the “Vityaz” quite well. There are two Su-30MKI aircraft that were used during testing in Akhtubinsk. They cannot be transferred to the combat strength of the Air Force, but “Vityazis” can successfully fly them. The costs of the second solution are acceptable from all sides.

One of the greatest achievements in the direction of modernizing existing aircraft is the creation of a modification of the Su-30KN. In fact, this is almost a 5th generation aircraft and at the same time this is the first step of modernization in the conditions of combat units. The aircraft turned out to be multifunctional, operating against air and ground targets day and night, in simple and difficult weather conditions. Precision navigation equipment makes it possible to effectively use unguided weapons. The accuracy of the combat kill was tested at the Glits training ground in Akhtubinsk. The cockpit control field with one indicator allows you to solve all problems. This is not a dead-end option: the cabin can be filled with other equipment and, thus, brought to the level of 5th generation aircraft existing at a certain point in time. The Su-30KN can implement the task of eliminating the influence of the human factor on flight safety.

The availability of this model makes it possible to radically expand the capabilities of the aircraft without high costs and, in an extremely short time, solve another important problem - training flight and engineering personnel. And the flight personnel on the Su-30KN have completely different capabilities when performing assigned tasks: without additional information from the ground, finding a target and confirming the accuracy of combat use in any conditions (with cloudiness of 5-6 points, beyond the clouds).

On January 14, 2004, Air Force Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Mikhailov assured: “The Rus aerobatic team will be preserved. They flew on planes owned by the Air Force, not ROSTO. That was the question. The Air Force is transferring supernumerary L-39 aircraft to ROSTO to maintain this aerobatic team “Rus”. But he immediately made a reservation: “We have completely abandoned the modernization of the L-39.”

And this despite the fact that, according to the conclusion of the LII, the old L-39 cannot be flown according to the new GOSTs: there is no compliance with the requirements for navigation, for monitoring the operation of equipment, and for energy. “Russian Avionics” has already taken into the air the L-39, modernized at its base, which meets the new requirements for training and selection of cadets and can take over the testing of most of the flight modes of the Su-30KN. Moreover, Russian Avionics has begun developing a modernization of the L-39 with expanded combat capabilities.

Igor Valentinovich Tkachenko

Igor Valentinovich Tkachenko was born on July 26, 1964 in the village of Ventsy-Zarya, Krasnodar Territory, RSFSR, USSR.

Russian military sniper pilot, air ace, honored military pilot of Russia, head of the 237th Guards Proskurov Red Banner Order of Kutuzov and Alexander Nevsky Air Regiment of the 16th Air Army of the Special Purpose Command, the aviation equipment display center named after Air Marshal I.N. Kozhedub.

Guard Colonel Igor Tkachenko is the leading and solo pilot of the Russian Knights aerobatic team.

Awarded the Order of Courage (2005).

Died on August 16, 2009 while performing a training flight near the airport in Zhukovsky, Moscow region, Russia.

Igor Tkachenko graduated from the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation Order of Lenin Red Banner Pilot School named after. V.P. Chkalov (VVAUL, 1985) and the Yu.A. Gagarin Air Force Academy (2000).

At the Borisoglebsk School he served as an instructor pilot, then entered the airbase in the city of Kubinka, Odintsovo district, Moscow region (since 1987).

He mastered the aircraft “L-29”, “MiG-21”, “MiG-29”, “Su-27”, “Su-35”, and also flew on the French multi-role fighter “Mirage-2000” (“Dassault Mirage 2000” ) and on the American light fighter “F-16 Fighting Falcon” (General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon).

Flown 2,300 hours.

He has been involved in aerobatics since 1989, he has been a member of the “Russian Knights” aerobatic team since 1993, and became the group commander in May 2002.

The aerobatics team “Russian Knights” was created on April 5, 1991 from the best pilots of the Kubinka airbase, who had perfectly mastered aerobatic techniques on the 4th generation Su-27 fighters. “Russian Knights” is the only aerobatic unit in the world that performs group aerobatics on heavy fighter class aircraft. “Russian Knights” have more than once demonstrated a complex of aerobatic maneuvers, such as the Nesterov loop, “barrel”, afterburner turn, “tulip” dissolution, “bell” on oncoming courses, and an oblique loop in the “arrow”. Master of single and group aerobatics Igor Tkachenko performed complex figures at the extreme conditions of the Su-27 fighter: turns on a “slide”, passes at a speed of less than 170 km/h. Performing such aerobatic maneuvers goes beyond the scope of the flight manual for combat vehicles.

The average annual flight time for pilots of the Russian Knights aerobatic team is 130-150 hours.

On December 12, 1995, while landing to refuel at the Vietnamese Cam Ranh airfield, three Russian Knights fighters crashed at once. Guard Colonel Boris Grigoriev, Guard Lieutenant Colonels Nikolai Grechanov, Nikolai Kordyukov and Alexander Syrovoy were killed. Two years after this tragedy, a new aerobatic team of six aircraft was formed (1997). Igor Tkachenko became the left external wingman, Ivan Kirsanov became the right wingman.

On August 16, 2009, during preparations for the MAKS-2009 air show, the Russian Knights and Swifts aerobatic teams trained. During the lane change, two Su-27 fighters collided, one of which was flown by Igor Tkachenko. The pilots of both cars ejected. Igor Tkachenko died due to the ignition of a parachute that caught fire in the air from a plane engulfed in flames.

I recently turned 45 years old. He is survived by his wife and two children. The President and Prime Minister expressed their condolences to the pilot's family and friends. An honored military pilot of Russia, Tkachenko had extensive flight experience. It has always been said about him, as well as about his entire illustrious group, that these people, with their constant noble risks, which they consciously took, expanded the capabilities of both man and the entire world aviation. Many aerobatic maneuvers that the Russian Knights perform today cannot be repeated anywhere in the world.

Igor Tkachenko congratulated the Russians from the cockpit of a fighter plane, flying over Red Square. This is how many will remember him - calm, cheerful, self-confident, an ace pilot. Although Igor Tkachenko appeared in front of television cameras infrequently. Only out of necessity, out of duty. During the Victory Parade, for example, or immediately after it. Like during an interview with Vesti, filmed on May 9, 2008. The planes had just landed in Kubinka near Moscow. The head of the Kozhedub Aviation Equipment Display Center, Igor Tkachenko, shares his impressions: “First impressions - the Parade is finally over! Everything was a success! The weather didn’t let us down, the equipment didn’t let us down, the personnel didn’t let us down. What they taught, they showed.”

Igor Tkachenko became an honored military pilot of Russia, because there are very few pilots of this class in the country, and in the world. There are aerobatic teams in France, Italy, and the USA. But they fly there either on training aircraft or on converted and lightweight combat aircraft. Ours fly real fighters, the same ones that went on missions in the skies of Afghanistan or the Caucasus, except that the coloring is different.

It is extremely difficult to control such a machine when performing aerobatic maneuvers, which is why the Russian Knights are considered a unique group. And this is a huge merit of the commander.

“He is a real Russian man - healthy, smart, devoted to aviation,” says Magomet Tolboev, honorary president of the MAKS International Aviation and Space Salon, about Tkachenko. “A real man!”

Guard Colonel Igor Tkachenko was born in 1964, in the Krasnodar Territory. In 1985 he graduated from college, in 1987 he came to the air base in Kubinka. He flew on our MiGs and Sushkas, and also flew on imported F-16 and Phantom aircraft.

Even looking from the ground, you are amazed at how the “Vityazis” fly, but to really understand the level of professionalism of these people, it is best to watch footage of the May 9, 2008 Parade. From the cockpit of the Su-27, the pilot films the An-124 transport aircraft. The distance is such that it seems: a little more, and the “nose” of the fighter will touch the An-124 turbine.

“He really was a maestro in his field - as a pilot, as a person,” says Honored Test Pilot of the Russian Federation Vladimir Biryukov. “And today I was flying on a Superjet plane. When I heard his voice, I greeted him and said: “ “Hello, maestro” (that’s what we called each other), and 15 minutes later he was gone.”

What happened today in the sky over Zhukovsky seems ridiculous. And it is not clear how it happened that Igor Tkachenko died. But, apparently, the colonel tried to the end to either save the plane or take it away from residential buildings. And he ejected quite late; the altitude turned out to be insufficient. However, there is another version - the parachute did not work at all. This may well be the case - the wear and tear of equipment in the troops is great, even in such unique units as the "Russian Knights".

In December 1995, three fighters from this aerobatic team crashed in the mountains of Vietnam. But everything was clear there: we were landing in Cam Ranh, the weather conditions were difficult - mountains, the Vietnamese controllers were poorly prepared. Then 4 pilots died.

It was under the command of Tkachenko that the “Russian Knights” made their first unique flight at an altitude of 300 meters above the main square of the country. And for this reason alone, the name of Guard Colonel Igor Tkachenko will forever remain in the history of Russian military aviation.

The cause of death of the commander of the Russian Knights aerobatic team Igor Tkachenko has been named

Text: Andrey Rezchikov

As a result of a collision between two Su-27 fighters during a training flight in Zhukovsky, the commander of the Russian Knights aerobatic team, Igor Tkachenko, was killed. According to experts, Tkachenko delayed the moment of ejection in order to divert the plane from the houses, so at the last moment he did not have enough altitude. Meanwhile, a source in the investigation team said that the commander of the Russian Knights managed to eject, but died due to the ignition of the parachute, which caught fire in the air from the plane engulfed in flames.

On Sunday, a rehearsal for demonstration flights of the MAKS-2009 air show took place on the territory of the M. N. Gromov Flight Research Institute. During the performance of the Russian Knights aerobatic team, an incident occurred. Two Su-27 fighters collided in the air.

According to preliminary information, the collision occurred due to a pilot error during an aerobatics maneuver. All three pilots were able to eject (one of the cars that collided in the air was a two-seater). A source in the Russian Ministry of Defense, on condition of anonymity, said that one of them died. It turned out to be the commander of the Russian Knights aerobatic team, Igor Tkachenko. Two other pilots, one of whom is named Viktor Shpak, are in the hospital; their health is not in danger.

Later, information about Tkachenko’s death was confirmed to the Vesti TV channel by Honored Test Pilot Anatoly Kvochur. According to him, Tkachenko’s death was due to the fact that he delayed making the decision to eject, trying to move the plane away from residential buildings.

“Most likely, he did not have enough height when ejecting. I think when he made the decision to eject, he had thoughts about where the plane would fall and whether it could be taken away from the buildings,” said Mr. Kvochur.

The test pilot added that if the pilot ejected at low altitude and the plane was spinning around its axis, then the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome increases significantly. He did not rule out that the pilot, after the plane collision, hoped to save the plane and land it. “You know what the current situation is with aviation technology in the Air Force. And a pilot like Tkachenko could not help but think about it,” suggested Anatoly Kvochur.

Meanwhile, a source taking part in the investigation of the disaster told RIA Novosti that Igor Tkachenko managed to eject, but died due to the ignition of the parachute, which caught fire in the air from the plane engulfed in flames.

“We interviewed witnesses and eyewitnesses of the incident. One of the residents of the holiday village over which the incident occurred clearly saw that the parachute of one of the ejected pilots caught fire while still in the air, since the fighter was on fire at that moment. Subsequently, it turned out that the dead pilot was Igor Tkachenko,” the source said.

Guard Colonel, Head of the 237th Guards Aviation Equipment Display Center, Honored Military Pilot of Russia Igor Tkachenko was born on July 26, 1964 in the village of Ventsy-Zarya, Krasnodar Territory. In 1985, he graduated from the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots named after. V.P. Chkalov, in 2000 – Air Force Academy named after. Yu. A. Gagarin. He served as an instructor pilot in the Borisoglebsky VVAUL, and since 1987 he served at the Cuban air base. During his service, he piloted such aircraft as the L-29, MiG-21, MiG-29, Su-27, Su-35. I have flown 2,300 hours on these types of aircraft.

He flew on foreign-made Mirage-2000 and F-16 aircraft. Has been involved in aerobatics since 1989. Lead and solo pilot of the Russian Knights aerobatic team. Married. He is survived by a son and daughter. He was interested in alternative medicine and cars.

“Russian Knights” is an aerobatics team of the Russian Air Force. Created on April 5, 1991 on the basis of the 237th Guards Proskurov Red Banner Order of Kutuzov and Alexander Nevsky Aviation Regiment from the best pilots of the Kubinka airbase near Moscow and other garrisons in Russia. It is part of the I. N. Kozhedub Aviation Equipment Display Center.

The group's pilots perform solo and group aerobatics with four, five and six fourth-generation Su-27 fighters. The planes are painted in the colors of the Russian national flag. Each performance of the “Russian Knights” is considered the height of excellence. Abroad, it has been repeatedly emphasized that the “knights” can safely be called one of the best masters of their craft in the whole world.

In turn, the commission to investigate the causes of the collision between two Su-27 fighters is considering all possible causes of the incident. “Various versions cannot be ruled out, including a bird getting into the plane’s engine, as well as a piloting error,” a source close to the commission told Interfax. He noted that flying Su-27 heavy fighters in tight formation is an extremely difficult element of group aerobatics.

“Such piloting is also fraught with the risk of one or more aircraft getting caught in the air stream ahead of the flying aircraft. In this case, the aerodynamics of the flight are disrupted, and the plane may be thrown to the side,” the source added. According to him, the possibility of a technical malfunction during the flight cannot be ruled out. But it is “unlikely, since the aircraft of the Russian Knights aerobatic team undergo constant maintenance and their condition is monitored with special care.”

The latest incident in Zhukovsky is not the first incident with Russian Knights aircraft. On December 12, 1995, while landing to refuel at the Vietnamese Cam Ranh airfield, three fighters of this group collided with a mountain due to unsatisfactory organization of flights in difficult weather conditions. As a result, four pilots were killed.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday expressed deep and sincere condolences to the family and friends of Igor Tkachenko in connection with his tragic death.

PLOT

Su-27 fighter crash over Zhukovsky

08/16/2009 Two fighters collided in the sky over Zhukovsky

08/16/2009 One of the Su-27s fell on a residential building of the Belozerikha gardening partnership

08/16/2009 The commander of the Russian Knights group, Igor Tkachenko, was killed in a Su-27 collision

During a training flight at the MAKS-2009 air show, two Su-27 aircraft from the Russian Knights aerobatic team collided. According to the Ministry of Defense, three pilots ejected. One of the pilots died. He turned out to be the commander of one of the best aerobatic teams in Russia, “Russian Knights,” Igor Tkachenko. One of the Su-27s fell on a gardening community, resulting in five people receiving varying degrees of burns. The air show organizers do not intend to postpone its opening date.

08/16/2009 The cause of death of Igor Tkachenko has been revealed

According to experts, Tkachenko delayed the moment of ejection in order to divert the plane from the houses, so at the last moment he did not have enough altitude. Meanwhile, a source in the investigation team said that the commander of the Russian Knights managed to eject, but died due to the ignition of the parachute, which caught fire in the air from the plane engulfed in flames.

On August 16, 2009, on Russian Air Fleet Day, which is traditionally celebrated on the third Sunday of August, a plane crash occurred near the airfield in Zhukovsky near Moscow. During a training flight on the eve of the MAKS-2009 air show, two fighters of the Russian Knights aerobatic team collided in the air. The head of the 237th TsPAT and the leader of the aerobatic team “Russian Knights” of the Guard, Colonel Igor Valentinovich Tkachenko, died.

Four MiG-29 fighters of the Swifts aerobatic team and 4 aircraft (Su-27UB and 3 Su-27s) of the Russian Knights aerobatic team took part in the training flight. After separation from the Swifts, at approximately 13:00, the four “Vityaz” completed the program with the traditional and long-practiced “tulip” - the dissolution of the fighters in the form of flower petals symmetrically diverging to the sides. During the subsequent assembly over the floodplain of the Moscow River in a marching formation, with which the pilots were going to go to the home airfield in Kubinka, at an altitude of about 1200 m, a Su-27UB collided with a military unit “18” (Igor Tkachenko, Igor Kurylenko) and a Su-27 Vitaly Melnik with b/n “14” (should have been the last one, but replaced the left one in the diamond with b/n “08”, who returned to Kubinka with a refusal).

This is how eyewitnesses describe the moment of the disaster: “One plane hit another with its nose in the nozzle, it blew smoke, started to turn around and fell. The pilots ejected. Then there was a terrible explosion.", “Sparka caught up with the Su-27, damaged the nose and front cockpit, and the Su-27’s engine caught fire.”, “I started observing the group about a minute before the collision. Everything happened before my eyes... Horror... I can only confirm that one of the pilots simply “caught up” with the previous one.”, “The first three planes were moving visually at the same speed. The fourth fell behind and took a slightly different course. Then he accelerated, caught up with the group and there was a flash...", “Three sushoks were coming from Ramensky almost straight towards us, they passed under such a large cumulus cloud and began a maneuver, and the fourth was catching up with them from behind and above, this cloud pierced and fell on the leader like a vulture (...) after the collision, one released a torch out of the engine and slowly began to go left across the river towards Bronnitsy, and the second one almost lost its nose and spinning fell to the right towards Belozerikha. Almost immediately two orange domes appeared(apparently the eyewitness is talking about lost drogue parachutes b/n “14” - RS) , while they were descending, the third walked in circles high above them, then moved to the Pines and cut circles over the crash site for 15-25 minutes until fire helicopters appeared...”, “The combat Su-27 jumped forward over the commander’s twin, then sharply went down, hitting its front with its tail...”.

During the collision the impact hit “the front cabin where Tkachenko was sitting. The blow came from above, overlapping the movement, forward and downward.”, notes an Infox.ru source in the Ministry of Defense. The rear cabin, in which Kurylenko was located, was not damaged by the impact. He activated the catapult - the plane was already uncontrollable and falling. (For Kurylenko, this is already the second case of ejection - the previous one was on a MiG-29 in 2006.) “If the front or rear cabin drives a catapult, then both are fired with an interval of 0.6 seconds. In this case, it doesn’t matter who pulls.”, the expert explained. “The headrest of Tkachenko’s chair fell off immediately from the impact, and there was a stabilizing parachute in the headrest. Igor - stone down. But he was already dead", notes the source.

“Three planes were flying almost over our areas, suddenly we heard a dull blow and saw that two of them had collided. Sparks began to fly and a pilot from one of the planes immediately ejected. Then the planes scattered in different directions: one with a tail of fire flew towards Bronnitsy (...), and the other began to descend sharply, almost perpendicular to the ground... when the pilot ejected from the plane, already very close to the ground, and the plane entered the ground with its nose, and a column of black smoke and fire rose, they realized that a tragedy had occurred. Everything happened in a matter of seconds.”, “The plane that fell on the houses shot the pilot 100 meters from the ground, and it crashed to the right of my site.”, “We saw how a plane without a nose, falling into a tailspin, sharply gained altitude, threw out one pilot and then crashed...”, “Sparka, immediately after the impact, did not maneuver anywhere, but simply fell down. This is what I saw.", “Fallen Su-27UB. Only one dome opened. There was definitely no second one.”, “There were only TWO white parachutes in the sky...!!! One to the left of us, where we stood on Staraya Ryazanka near V. Velino... the other to the right - descended into the field...”.

“The body of one of the pilots was found in a field near the village of Malakhovka”, - said the interlocutor of RIA Novosti. According to 72-year-old Muscovite Nina P., the pilot was not wearing a helmet and suffered a severe head injury when he fell. “Tkachenko was lying in a field without a chair or a parachute - he crashed. There was no fire at the crash site. When he fell, I did not see the parachute. I only saw that the seat was flying separately and the pilot was flying separately.” “There was neither an ejection chair nor a parachute canopy nearby. I did not find any traces of its fastening, such as torn lines or straps on the pilot’s body.”, - resident of Zakharikha Vladimir, who found the pilot’s body in the field behind the outermost houses and called rescuers to the scene, told Kommersant. According to the witness, there were also no open wounds on the pilot’s body that he could have received in a collision - only injuries typical of a fall from high altitude: the corpse seemed to be spread out on the ground, and its arms and legs were unnaturally twisted.

Spark, which fell almost vertically on the Sosny-2 gardening partnership, located near the village of Belozerikha, completely destroyed a three-story brick cottage and several nearby buildings, and damaged the cars of the owners of the country houses. Fragments of the plane scattered over tens of meters. There was a huge fire. “In total, five people were hospitalized with burns, four are in moderate condition, another woman is in intensive care”, - said a representative of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Moscow Region (51-year-old Olga Elizarova died from her burns on the 6th day after the disaster). Near the ground, Kurylenko's parachute got caught in the branches of dense trees. After about 40 minutes, the pilot was evacuated with a concussion, bruise of the spine and knee joint.

As a result of the collision, combat vehicle “14” lost the fuselage compartment with its braking parachute. The plane's right engine caught fire. The miller turned off the engines and ejected. Upon landing, the pilot suffered bruises on both feet. His car fell into a field near the village of Tyazhino. There was no destruction on the ground. “The plane that caught fire was extinguished, there were no casualties”, - a source in law enforcement agencies of the Moscow region told RIA Novosti.

The Su-27 aircraft with the identification number “01” (Igor Shpak), being the last one, was damaged by the debris of the colliding fighters, but did not leave the accident area for a long time, circling over it with one engine running and directing search groups. After this, Shpak landed safely in Kubinka “on a plane in which there were holes in the wings the size of a couple of fists, everything was covered in soot”.

The honorary president of the air show, Honored Test Pilot of Russia, Hero of the Russian Federation Magomet Tolboev saw the collision of two fighters with his own eyes. “I just happened to be a witness. They flew off normally. They showed their program. Then there was dissolution, then the follower had to join his leader. Well, at high speed he caught it, and the worst thing is that the wingman ejected, and the leader Tkachenko, the commander of the Kubinka base, he died. He was the most experienced, one of the most experienced, we flew with him a lot, even 10 years ago, when he was still young. But, unfortunately, this is not his fault. The wingman, you see, didn’t calculate... The wingman fell behind the leader at enormous speed and, equalizing, at a distance of 1.5..2 meters from the tail of the plane to the nose of the second one, apparently crashed into it... Apparently, here the closing speed was exceeded. We have never had a equipment failure, this is a rare case; mainly plays a role human factor Unfortunately, 80% are human; it's an accident", - said Tolboev.

Former commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force Vladimir Mikhailov believes that the accident occurred due to the negligence of one of Tkachenko’s wingmen. “Igor is not to blame for this disaster. They ran into him from behind, and then everything happened, you probably know more than I do.”, - said Mikhailov.

An employee of the airfield in Zhukovsky, responsible for the technical side of fighter testing, on condition of anonymity, told GZT.RU that, most likely, the cause of the disaster was a piloting error. “The bird didn’t hit the turbine, the pilots performed the maneuver unsuccessfully, - he said. - This is a job where no one is immune from such things.”

“To investigate the causes of the incident, a commission has been created, which consists of representatives of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the High Command of the Russian Air Force”, said Vladimir Drik, head of the information and public relations service of the Russian Air Force. "Black boxes" of crashed planes have been discovered. The flight recorders are in satisfactory condition. The investigative bodies of the military investigative department of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation for the Moscow Military District have opened a criminal case into the plane crash on the grounds of a crime under Art. 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of traffic safety rules and operation of air transport).

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed deep and sincere condolences to the family and friends of the Russian Knights commander Igor Tkachenko. In turn, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called the death of the pilot “an irreparable loss not only for Russian, but also for world aviation”. The proposal of the Minister of Defense to nominate Igor Valentinovich Tkachenko for a state award will definitely be considered, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the Russian Knights aerobatic team. According to the Ministry of Defense, Tkachenko will be posthumously awarded for “courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty”. What kind of award the deceased will receive has not yet been specified.

Ironically, on August 16, in the Kaluga region, a Yak-52 training and sports aircraft crashed on which were the World Champion in aerobatics, 37-year-old instructor pilot Svetlana Fedorenko and the son of the former Russian Knights pilot Dmitry Mikhailovich Khachkovsky (senior in 2003). CPAT navigator retired to the reserve) - cadet of the Ulyanovsk Higher Aviation School of Civil Aviation Anton Khachkovsky. The disaster occurred at 12:50 Moscow time near the village of Guryevo. The plane took off from the Drakino airfield (flight director - Svetlana’s husband), located in the Serpukhov district of the Moscow region, and after some time fell to the ground, the crew members died at the scene. There are no casualties or destruction on earth. In connection with the Yak-52 plane crash, a criminal case was opened under Part 3 of Art. 263 (“violation of traffic safety rules and operation of air transport”) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The causes of the plane crash are being investigated.

On August 19, in front of a large crowd of people in the garrison house of officers in the village of Novy Gorodok (Nikolskoye rural settlement, Odintsovo district), a farewell ceremony took place for the guard colonel, Honored Pilot of Russia, commander of the 237th TsPAT Igor Valentinovich Tkachenko. He was interred at the Nikolskoye cemetery, next to his comrades who died in Cam Ranh. The pilot is survived by his wife Galina Aleksandrovna, daughter, student Daria, and son Igor, a fifth-year cadet at the Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots.

On August 19, Acting Deputy Commander-in-Chief for Armaments, Major General Oleg Barmin, announced that “Preliminarily, there are no complaints about the technical condition of the aircraft. The “black boxes” have been found, they are intact, the flight information will be deciphered and presented to the commission. As soon as the commission completes its work, it will voice the true reasons.". Air Force experts have previously established the cause of the collision, it will be officially announced later, and the disaster, as in most cases, was caused by "tragic coincidence", added Barmin. The next day, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force Alexander Zelin also did not report any results of the investigation of the commission to determine the causes of the collision on August 16 of two Su-27 fighters near Zhukovsky, but said that there was objective flight control data that would help investigate this incident. “There is video footage of the collision, she has been arrested, and a commission of inquiry is looking into it. It will help to draw an objective conclusion about the causes of the disaster.”, - said the commander-in-chief of RIA Novosti.

On August 23, the rhombus of the Russian Knights aerobatic team, consisting of Andrei Alekseev, Igor Shpak, Oleg Erofeev and Alexander Bogdan, performed a farewell pass with a long shooting flight at MAKS-2009, as a sign of memory to the departed commander. “They returned to accompany their commander on the most endless, final flight.”, - announced the announcer. The planes made two diamond circles over the airfield, after which they headed for the permanent airfield in Kubinka. Saying goodbye to the audience, the pilots presented the guests and participants of the salon with a small fireworks display, illuminating the gloomy sky near Moscow with bright white and yellow lights.

On September 22, Moscow authorities decided to pay compensation in the amount of 150 thousand rubles to the relatives of Olga Elizarova, who died without regaining consciousness on August 21 in the intensive care unit of the burn center of Moscow City Hospital No. 36. She was taken to a Moscow hospital with severe burns. Doctors stated that she had 80% burns to her skin. The funds will be allocated from the city budget under the social protection program for Moscow residents, Vesti reported.

On September 29, the commission to investigate the causes of the collision between two Su-27 fighters from the Russian Knights aerobatic team named the cause of the tragedy. As sources in the Ministry of Defense told news agencies, according to experts, the cause of the disaster was the human factor, namely, an error by the pilot of one of the machines. Experts stated that the planes were in good working order almost immediately after the accident, and their cause was initially called a mysterious “confluence of various circumstances,” without explaining what exactly these circumstances were. However, no one has officially confirmed the cause of the tragedy yet. The Air Force said yesterday that it would be made public no earlier than November, Vremya Novostei reported.

As Air Force experts then claimed, both fighters were in good working order and “worked normally.” As stated by the acting deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force for armaments, Major General Oleg Barmin, the cause of the tragedy was a “tragic confluence of various circumstances.” At the same time, he stated that the version of the disaster had already been established and would be announced in the near future. But this happened only a month and a half after the emergency, and even then “unofficially.”

As a source in the Russian Ministry of Defense told news agencies, the commission came to the conclusion that the cause of the disaster was the human factor. However, he said that the official results of the investigation will be made public no earlier than November. He also denied what appeared in last days some media reports that the accident occurred due to a lack of communication between the pilots and air traffic controllers, calling it a "fiction". “At this time, the dispatchers worked most intensively, and the loss of communication between the dispatcher and the aircraft at this time is excluded. Moreover, the second aerobatic team - “Swifts” - was also already in the air,” he said.

According to experts, the most likely cause of the tragedy was the mistake of the pilot Vitaly Melnik, namely, his loss of orientation in space when the planes passed the clouds. As experts considered, Mr. Melnik, apparently, mixed up the direction and made an erroneous maneuver, going against Tkachenko’s “spark.” As a result, his Su-27 touched the nose of the Spark, Vremya Novostey summed up.

The investigation will check the activities of all officials of the Russian Ministry of Defense who were related to the functioning of the Russian Knights aerobatic team, RIA Novosti reports, citing a source in the commission investigating the plane crash in the Moscow region on August 16.

Currently, the investigation is checking all officials who were in one way or another related to the Russian Knights aerobatic team. The check will affect everyone, from engineers and mechanics who maintain the technical condition of the aircraft, to senior commanders who give orders, including the command of the Air Force, the source said.

According to him, investigators have requested all documentation available in the Russian Air Force and the Russian Ministry of Defense that has at least some relation to the aerobatic team, the AVIA.RU website reported on September 30.

According to the Baltic News Agency on August 26, 2010, two Su-27 fighters collided in the air at the MAKS-2009 air show in August 2009 due to a violation of flight rules committed by the commander of the Russian Knights, Igor Tkachenko. This was reported by the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation. The criminal case into the plane crash was investigated by the Military Investigation Department of the UPC.

As noted, military investigators seized and examined fragments of both aircraft, flight recorders, necessary technical and flight documentation, and other materials. Hundreds of witnesses were questioned, all necessary examinations were carried out, all documents were studied and analyzed regulations regulating the conduct of demonstration flights.

“Based on the materials of the criminal case, including the conclusion of experts from the Interstate Aviation Committee and the Aviation Flight Safety Service of the Armed Forces of Russia, the investigation came to the conclusion that the direct cause of the plane crash was a number of violations of flight rules committed by Igor Tkachenko himself.”, - says the SKP message.

On April 27, 2010, the criminal case was terminated on the basis of clause 4 of part 1 of Art. 24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation - in connection with the death of the pilot. This decision was recognized by the military prosecutor of the Moscow Military District as legal and justified.

In addition, the investigation submitted to the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force a proposal to take measures to eliminate the circumstances that contributed to the commission of the crime. As follows from the response received, based on the facts set out in the submission, the Air Force has adopted a set of organizational and preventive measures.

“At the time of the decision to terminate this criminal case, all victims, with the exception of Olga Elizarova’s relatives, were compensated for the material damage caused. According to available information, the issue of the amount of compensation payments to the family of the deceased Elizarova is being considered by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.”, - added to the UPC.

The minor planet - main belt asteroid 269390 (2009 QA34), discovered in August 2009 - is named after the Russian military pilot, commander of the Russian Knights aerobatic team Igor Tkachenko, who died in 2009, the discoverer of the asteroid told the media on September 24, 2013, astronomer Leonid Elenin. Now in the small bodies database solar system Laboratories jet propulsion NASA indicates that this object is also called Igortkachenko.

Su-27UB combat training fighter

Sources:
1. Internet media, blogs

Tkachenko Igor Valentinovich

Hero of the Russian Federation

Guard Colonel.

Commander of the aerobatic aviation team RUSSIAN VITYAZI.
Born July 26, 1964

In 1985 he graduated from the Borisoglebsk Higher Military Aviation School named after V.P. Chkalov. He served as a pilot instructor at his native school.

In 2000 he graduated from the Yu.A. Air Force Academy. Gagarin. During his service, he mastered the L-29, MiG-21, MiG-29, Su-27. He performed flights on foreign types of fighters. Flown 1600 hours on these types.

Honored Military Pilot of Russia. Military sniper pilot.

Has been involved in aerobatics since 1989. Since 1992, he has been a member of the Russian Knights aerobatic team as a solo pilot, left and tail wingman, and counter aerobatics pilot. Since 2002, the presenter of Russian Knights.

Died on August 16, 2009 during a flight to prepare for participation in the MAKS-2009 air show.

Survived by wife, daughter, son.

To open a photo to screen size, click on the photo. To enlarge the photo to full size, click again.

The photo was sent by D. Mikhailov, graduate of 1989.

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Su-27 crash. Igor Tkachenko died...

For several hours, many of us waited with anxiety and hope for reliable information about the consequences of the collision of two Su-27s that occurred during a rehearsal for the MAKS-2009 air show. One of the planes was flown by Igor Valentinovich Tkachenko, a 1985 graduate of the Borisoglebsk VVAUL. At first they said that everyone had ejected, then there was a rumor that someone had died, and until the last minute we hoped for a successful outcome, but...
The terrible thing was confirmed: the plane piloted by Igor Tkachenko crashed near the village of Zakharikha, the pilot died...

We, Borisoglebsk pilots who have already given up flying work, are watching with hope, joy and anxiety our colleagues who are still flying the skies. We always rejoice at their successes and are saddened by their failures, and in their flight work it is as if we ourselves continue to fly. And Igor Tkachenko was one of the pilots whose flights were especially noticeable, and of whom we were all proud.
Today's tragedy has deeply affected us all. We express our deep condolences to the family and friends of Igor Valentinovich, and mourn with them...
Blessed memory to you, Igor...
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TKACHENKO IGOR VALENTINOVYCH

Guard Colonel
Head of the 237th Guards. aviation technology display center
Honored Military Pilot of Russia
Military sniper pilot
Born on July 26, 1964 in the village of Ventsy-Zarya, Krasnodar Territory.