Small Agricultural Aircraft Crashes near Shumen

A light jet with two Serbian nationals on board crash landed Saturday afternoon near the city of Shumen.

The agricultural aircraft was dropping vaccines against the fox strain of rabies, according to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio.

In an attempt to land, the aircraft was caught in an air current and it fell to the ground just meters away from the runway of the airport near the village of Gradishte, Shumen district.

The accident was most probably caused by the powerful storm accompanied by strong wind and rain.

Two of the three legs of the landing gear were broken and the aircraft slid to a stop on its belly.

38-year-old pilot Luka did not suffer injuries and was released from hospital after checkups, while 52-year-old Stevan was hospitalized in Shumen with a neck fracture.

The aircraft tried to land at the runway near Gradishte due to the bad weather, according to reports of the Interior Ministry.

The signal for the accident was received at around 5.20 pm on Saturday.

The pilot tested negative for alcohol.

Pre-trial proceedings were opened into the matter.

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