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Regarding the terrible accident in the town of Brasina, when the MiG-21 of the Serbian army crashed, the general and former test pilot of the MiG 21, Branko Bilbija, says that such events are not very rare and that they unfortunately happen.
– Neither people are perfect nor technique is perfect. The tragedy is great and we don’t have many pilots. Someone’s parents and siblings died, this is a great loss for both their families and the military. The rules are clear, the plane must be technically correct and must be guaranteed by whoever produced it, or the workshop and the mechanic who commissioned it. Airplanes have their flight schedule and are given permission to do so. This is taken into account by the unit in which the aircraft is used. The mechanic must show the brochure that the plane is correct, before the pilot enters the plane. The pilot performed a pre-flight inspection, signed the brochure and took off, says General Bilbija on Kurir television’s Usijanje program.
On whether the age of the plane affects safety, the general says it is not crucial and that the plane can be “100 years old” if it is well maintained, it can fly.
– No. Because the level and quality of maintenance is the basic parameter on the basis of which the aircraft is allowed to fly. It can be “a thousand” years old, it can fly if it is maintained well and professionally. Mig 21 may be old, but well maintained and constantly cared for. However, you never know if even the latest media will fail. It’s happening. But it seems to me that this time it is not the case, but that in this case, I think that the technique did not mainly affect this event – it says and adds:
“An airplane can fly in favorable weather conditions, it cannot in unfavorable weather conditions. You shouldn’t even try, when there is strong wind, poor visibility.”
General Bilbija also clarified that the MiG 21 is still in use, but that its time is past, however, if it is well maintained, it can still fly today.
– Mig 21 is used in most countries of the world. Still flying somewhere, until recently it was modernized in service in Israel. That plane was one of the dominant planes during the second half of the 20th century. But its time has passed, but if it is well maintained, it can still fly today, says the former test pilot.
On why a hunter like Miga flew low today, the general notes:
– The hunter is not prohibited from flying low, the question is what was the pilot’s task today. I do not know the details, I would not go into complicated definitions of what happened, I hope that the committee of experts will examine what happened, in what way, and that the report is of high quality and is available to the public. These reports are not published in their entirety, but only in parts, they are reports of up to 1,000 pages. The conclusion is published and the public can get the correct image. Investigations take, depending on the amount of details gathered and the documentation, it can take 15 days, but also six months, he says.
The general adds that the investigation is decided by the commission in which the air force commander is located, and that it may include various experts.
When asked how he explains that one pilot catapulted during the accident and the other did not, Bilbija points out that “only one pilot cannot be catapulted in MiG 21, and that he does not believe such a situation has occurred, but maybe one did and the other didn’t. Maybe one seat worked before the other. ”
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