Bulgaria: A Small Plane Crashed near Lesnovo Airport, the Pilot has Died

An acrobatic plane that took off from Lesnovo Airport fell in the "Pobit Kamak" area. The pilot died on the spot.

The signal was given at 1:33 p.m., emergency services reported to the National Television. The ambulance arrived in 10 minutes.

The deceased pilot is Georgi Vlaikov, manager of the Varna Aviation Squadron training center. He piloted his personal plane "Extra 2000" - an aerobatic plane with German registration.

Vlaikov has been flying since 2011. He had all the necessary documents for flights, his license was for acrobatic flights.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications, Hristo Alexiev, ordered an immediate investigation into the incident involving a small E200 type aircraft, 3 km south of Lesnovo Airport. The National Air, Water and Rail Accident Investigation Board has also been referred.

Deputy Minister Nikolay Naydenov and the chairman of the National Board for the Investigation of Accidents in Air, Water and Railway Transport Hristo Hristov arrived at the scene of the accident.

Naydenov told the media that he had a recording of the flight and was working on several versions.

Deputy Prime Minister Hristo Alexiev expresses his condolences to the relatives of the deceased pilot.

"The causes of the accident are being investigated. There are several versions, there is a recording of the flight, it will be provided to the investigative authorities. Let's hope that they will quickly find the cause of this unfortunate accident," Deputy Minister of Transport Nikolay Naydenov said at a briefing and gave details about the incident near Lesnovo.

According to Naydenov, the flight was made with a technically sound aircraft with the appropriate registration.

"The pilot had a very serious experience, which does not suggest this type of accident. All versions will be investigated. At the moment, it cannot be decided what the reason is - whether it is related to health, whether it is technical, all possible versions will be investigated", added Nikolay Naydenov.

He explained that the pilot has the relevant licenses and is carrying out his activities absolutely legally.

"The information that is related to the aerobatic flights is that these training flights have been performed for several months, he has been practicing and trying certain stunts. Rather, he has no experience in the aerobatic part. The pilot has been practicing since 2011, no connection should be made between his practice and today's incident because they are two different things in aviation. Acrobatic stunts and performing aerobatic figures is a strictly specific activity that has nothing to do with his practice and practical experience," said the Deputy Minister of Transport.

According to him, no additional authorization is needed for this flight and for this aircraft. The flight was permitted at normal time, the incident occurred at 1:30 p.m., the authorities were immediately notified, the flight was filmed, specified Nikolay Naydenov.

"The people who were part of the pilot's crew were very close and immediately responded to the scene. If he had even been wearing a helmet there was a possibility that this incident would not have resulted in a fatal outcome, for this flight it was not necessary to be wearing a helmet because it is a training exercise, but every single safety element can lead to greater security. The head injury was crucial," said Nikolay Naydenov.

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