27.09.2020.
Minister Vulin: Flight data recorder which will help in further investigation of the MiG-21 crash has been found
- When you lose such young and dear people, you can only try to understand their families’ grief. It is a terrible blow for the entire Serbian Armed Forces and Serbia. When one human life is lost it’s a tragedy. When you lose two pilots, two officers, two members of the Armed Forces, it is a tragedy not only for their families, which are of course affected the most, but the entire country, the entire nation – said the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin on the morning programme of PRVA Television and once again expressed his deepest condolences to the pilots’ families.
As Minister Vulin pointed out, yesterday, together with the Chief of the General Staff, Commander of the Air Force and the Commander of the 204th Air Brigade, he visited the families of the pilots killed in the crash and, as he emphasized, “it cannot be described in words, nor are there words of consolation“.
- Those were the people who dedicated their lives to our security. That was their job, their mission, and it was in that mission that they lost their lives - said Minister Vulin.
He said that the military commissions finished the field work and all material evidence were collected, the aircraft debris was removed and transferred to the Aviation Institute, and he added that the flight data recorder was also found.
- Our experts will see what data were recorded. Unlike the “black box”, it records only the flight parameters, not the pilots’ conversation. We will see how the plane functioned in those moments and how the pilots flew. At this moment, in the Air Force Command, both commissions, one under the command of Brigadier General Popović, and the other under the command of Brigadier General Bjelić, are analysing all the evidence and will come to some conclusions very soon. When I say very soon, I cannot say precisely when, on what day or date, that is the job of experts - the Minister of Defence emphasized and added that no one in the armed forces can order the commission to work faster or more slowly and that they are independent bodies.
Minister Vulin explained that all these data are submitted to the Prosecutor's Office, and they are the ones who make further decisions regarding the case, because "the Armed Forces cannot carry out the procedure."
- We gather evidence, make appropriate conclusions and hand everything over to the Prosecutor's Office. It is very important for us to know why this happened for the sake of the members and the future - said the Minister of Defence and said that this is not something that happens only to the Serbian Armed Forces and mentioned the tragedy in Ukraine in which 26 cadets were killed in a plane crash a few days ago.
The Minister also spoke about aircraft tragedies in other militaries around the world and pointed out that one of the most modern F-35 aircraft crashed three times in the past few years, and that the United States Air Force lost 133 pilots and crew members in the past five years.
- One of the most powerful militaries in the world flies on aircraft that are 30 years old on average. It goes without saying that this is not something unheard of. The planes we used to travel to the seaside in some happier times were older than this MiG. They were about 30 to 40 years old on average. Romanians who have a much larger military than us and larger budgets fly on MiG-21 aircraft, and right now a NATO exercise is underway in which Romanians are flying on those aircraft - Minister Vulin emphasized.
Speaking about the procedure before a plane takes off, Minister Vulin explained that a plane needs to be inspected by eight people, that it must obtain five signatures - four signatures written by mechanics and engineers and the fifth written by the pilot, and that a faulty aircraft cannot take off in the Serbian Armed Forces.
The Minister of Defence also said that the pilot has the possibility to eject from the plane and emphasized that the pilot commanding the aircraft makes the decision on ejecting both pilots, and that the investigation will show whether the pilots ejected from the MiG-21. He also emphasized that all relevant data must be checked before anyone goes public, because it concerns human lives.
- We fly. We fly every day. There were times when no one flew for six months. When you meet the pilots and ask them: “Will you go to your child's birthday celebration or fly?”, each of them will say that they want to fly. They have to, this is what they love doing and they finally have a chance to do it. We now have a sufficient number of aircraft, enough fuel, tires, and engines. We fly. Unfortunately, with a larger number of flights, there will be more accidents. It is up to us to make sure that this does not happen by ensuring the perfect working order of the aircraft and pilot training - the Minister of Defence pointed out and added that it is an insult when they say that "our pilots are untrained and not expert in what they do."
- All our pilots are highly trained, none of them can get on a plane until they meet very strict requirements and undergo all the necessary training and retraining - said Minister Vulin and denied media reports that "one of the pilots stood in for his colleague" or "That it was his last flight before retirement."
- Nobody flies by chance. Every task and every aircraft requires the right people. It was known exactly who was flying and when. The commander of the aircraft was Major Krsnik, he was a flight instructor. A terrible loss for us, he flew throughout his career, his retirement was close, and I would personally ask him to stay longer. Also, the loss of Captain 1st Class Vasiljevic is terrible for us, he was the hope of his squadron. People loved them, we all loved them - the Minister of Defence emphasized.
