Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Investigators into the fatal crash in which 2 military pilots were killed:

Seven seconds of communication missing between tower and the L-39 ZA aircraft

Photo: MoD

Right before the two military pilots training for an air show crashed their plane in the critical seven seconds of the flight there was no communication between the tower and the plane. This is shown by the recordings of the conversations between the Flight control and the crew, BNT reported.


Major Petko Dimitrov and 1st Lieutenant Ventsislav Dunkin were killed on September 13 this year when their L-39 ZA aircraft crashed during training for an air show to mark the 20th anniversary of Bulgaria's accession to NATO.


The report by the Military Police and the Ministry of Defence has been handed over to the Military District Prosecutor's Office in Plovdiv. An aviation-technical forensic examination is to be appointed to establish the correctness of the actions of the flight participants both in the plane and on the ground.
When asked who should have made the decision to abort the manoeuvre, Hristo Anchev replied: "The flight operations director has the authority to abort the maneuver if he decides that it should not be continued, that it is extremely dangerous."
Work on the report will begin next week and will include a detailed examination of the wreckage of the crashed aircraft and the testimony of more than 30 witnesses who have been interviewed.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Bulgaria's INSAIT Institute announces its new fellows under the Explorer programme

Thank you for choosing to stay in Bulgaria. This was said by Bulgaria's Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov at the ceremony officially announcing the new class of fellows under the EXPLORER program of the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial..

published on 9/10/25 10:45 AM

Lightning ignites new forest fire in Bulgaria's Rila Mountain

A new large fire has broken out in Rila Mountain , BTA reported, citing the police in the town of Kyustendil. The fire is located at an altitude of about 2,200 m in the area above the Iliina River, in the area where the Rila Monastery is located, but is..

published on 9/10/25 10:27 AM

Bulgaria to receive over 2% of EU funds for rearmament

Bulgaria will receive over 3.2 billion euros from the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) programme, the European Commission announced. The loan programme is worth 150 billion euros and aims to strengthen the EU's ability to make strategic investments in..

published on 9/10/25 8:54 AM