Press conference on occasion of the plane crash

SAF air force pilot, Major Slobodan Jocic, commander of the 1st division of 241st fighter-bombing squadron stationed in 98th aviation base, crashed today in Knic Lake in the vicinity of Kragujevac.

The cause of the crash is probably due to a malfunction of the landing gear, as Brig. Gen. Ranko Zivak, commander of the air force stated at the press conference organized on this occasion. Despite all necessary procedures, safe landing was impossible. Upon the order of his superiors, Major Jocic flew the plan in the vicinity of Knic Lake where he directed the air craft for landing and then catapulted himself safely. The pilot is currently hospitalized at the Military Medical Academy and his life is not in danger.

In his address to the press, Brig. Gen. Zivak said that during this training flight major Jocic was practicing regular pilot techniques. Even though he had no problems during the flight, the left landing gear did not come out when the plane was to land. This is a technical malfunction, as Zivak stressed, and emphasized that the pilot in coordination with the commander of the base took all necessary measures in order to pull out the gear and to land the plane safely.

Since this was one of SAFs most experienced pilots on the Orao fighter, other necessary steps were taken in order to avoid the ejection, and the destruction of the air craft. As Zivak explained, Jocic touched with the right wheel the air strip on two occasions, hoping to unlock the jammed the gear. As this had no result, and with the fuel already running out, the command which was monitoring the situation the whole time decided to navigate the air craft to an unpopulated area and to order the pilot to catapult himself. By doing this, the command avoided any third party injuries. The pilot catapulted himself safely at 500 altitude after directing the air craft into the lake.
A search and rescue team was sent the minute the order for ejection were give. The pilot navigated the helicopter to the crash site which indicated that he had not sustained any grave injuries. He was transferred to the MMA where the doctors found that he had sustained a light spinal cord injury. During the catapult procedure, the gravitation force exerts extreme pressure on the pilot, so such injuries are possible.

Zivak also mentioned that the site had been secured and the competent organs had performed all investigatory procedures.

Deputy Air Force Operations Commander,
Colonel Predrag Bandic underlined that this was obviously a malfunction of the air craft since the pilot had taken all necessary procedures. All air crafts of this type had been landed until the cause of the crash is determined.

Major Jocic, as Bandic pointed out, is an experienced pilot, a flight instructor and a test pilot, completely trained for flying Orao. Today’s even was under control, and the commands’ and pilots’ actions would continue to be carefully monitored.

The air craft in question was manufactured in 1987 and in March this year it was returned from the general overhaul in Moma Stanojlovic technical institute and since then it has been 24 hours in the air. In this period the plane exhibited no signs of malfunction or failure.

Furthermore, as General Zivak stated all standards in the overhaul procedure are adhered to. Before the plane is redeployed, it is tested and its parts are checked, and this was also the case with this air craft. On the same plane Major Jocic flew the day before quite safely and there was no indication that would suggest a malfunction.

All conference participants concluded that the most important thing was that the pilot’s life was saved, and that this was a classic example of an emergency situation in the course of flight practice that can happen any where in the world. The plane was safely directed into Knic Lake when there was very little fuel left which means that a larger-scale eco disaster was also avoided.