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Disaster rescuers found two more deaths while searching the area around the crash site, bringing the number to 26. Ukraine’s President Volodomir Zelensky traveled to the scene and declared Saturday a national day of mourning.
Both Defense Minister Andriy Taran and Vice Minister of the Interior Anton Gerashchenko have indicated that an investigation into the black box is still underway, which will provide a clearer picture of the details and causes of the tragedy of the Friday.
The accident took place during a landing near the city of Chuhujiv (Russian: Chugujev). The plane crashed to the ground at the edge of the road connecting Kiev to Kharkiv and then caught fire. In addition to the crew, cadets from the Ukrainian Air Force University in Kharkiv were traveling on the plane. In the immediate aftermath of the crash, two cadets survived, one of whom subsequently died in hospital, the other suffered a concussion and is not in mortal danger.
According to Gerashenko, takeoff and landing were practiced on the plane, and according to the training plan, these two operations were repeated every fifteen minutes. However, one of the landings was disrupted, with earlier reports that the pilot had notified the control tower that the aircraft’s left engine had stopped. The government official reiterated that he was an experienced pilot for whom this could not mean an “emergency.” Visibility was good, there was hardly any wind. Before the accident, the machine suddenly disappeared from radar screens. Later, relief confirmed that no cadets were involved in the fatal landing maneuver.
Former military attorney general Anatoly Matios, citing unidentified sources on Newsone TV the day before, said it led to the tragedy that the crew had allegedly mistaken the airport runway for the nearby road upon landing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to the scene of misfortune on Saturday and declared the day of national mourning. He decided that the An-26 plane would not be allowed to take off until the cause of the accident was determined and that the condition of all the technical equipment of the Ukrainian army should be reviewed. In a statement, he expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and the people of the country.
Prime Minister Gyenyisz Sigal had until October 25 to set a deadline to discover the cause of the accident. The Deputy Defense Minister announced that the families of each victim would receive one and a half million hryvnia (17.36 million HUF) in compensation.
Since the accident, several statesmen have sent mourning letters to Ukraine.
MTI
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