According to an NTSB preliminary report, it’s not clear whether or why the back-seater in a Mig-23UB ejected the pair before the fighter crashed at an airshow in Michigan.
Until meeting its end while putting on a display at the Thunder Over Michigan airshow at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, Michigan on August 13, the airplane was the only privately flown MiG-23 Flogger in the world. The two-place MiG-23UB was one of eight or nine Floggers owned by Texas-based Unknown Aircraft Company which had plans as of 2021 to restore them to airworthy status for the vintage display and airshow circuit.
The Mach 2-plus capable Flogger (N23UB ) was built in 1981 and had recently been a standout of the 2023 airshow season, appearing at major events including the SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo at Lakeland, Florida, in April, and, prior to Thunder Over Michigan, at the EAA’s massive AirVenture airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
It was owned and flown by a former Naval Aviator, A-6 Intruder pilot, and Gulf War veteran, Dan “Files” Filer, who was at the controls in the front seat as pilot-in-command. According to a local TV News piece from 2022, Filer actually bought 18 MiG-23s and sold ten to unspecified customers.
The airplane from which he and a pilot-observer escaped crashed in the Waverly on the Lake Apartments in Belleville, MI, not far from Willow Run Airport. There were no injuries on the ground and the pilots, who parachuted into the adjacent Belleville Lake, sustained only minor injuries according to media reports.
The story may have ended, happily enough, there but a recently issued Aviation Investigation Preliminary Report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) calls into question the last moments of the flight.
According to the report, the MiG – which has a variable-sweep wing similar to those of the F-111 and F-14 – had taken off from Willow Run’s runway 23, climbing in a right turn and returning to the runway heading for a low pass in front of the crowd.
Following the pass, Filer banked right on climb-out and noticed that the afterburner on the MiG’s Khatchaturov R-35-300 engine had failed to light as he increased power to fly away. The Flogger’s airspeed dropped and Filer brought its swing-wings into the fully forward position (16° sweep) to maximize lift while he began troubleshooting the problem.
Videos of the incident show the MiG in a left bank with wings fully-forward shortly before the crew ejects. The aircraft appears to have sufficient flying speed and there is no visual evidence of an engine failure, of significant fluid leaks or smoke. As the airplane continues in its left turn, the aft and forward canopies can be seen firing off the airframe and the pilots can be seen ejecting as the MiG continues at the same bank angle in a shallow descent towards terra firma.
According to the NTSB report, Filer was actively troubleshooting a possible engine problem when the rear seat observer stated that they needed to eject. The back-seater told NTSB investigators that he and the pilot had a brief discussion following the first show-pass and began to climb up and gain altitude.
He said they determined that they had some type of engine problem and that they did not have sufficient altitude to make it to a runway at the airport.
However, Filer reported that he was not ready to eject. Presumably, he had not given the call to EJECT as pilot-in-command. He told the NTSB he was still troubleshooting the problem and maneuvering the airplane toward runway 27 at Ypsilanti when his ejection seat fired, and he was out of the airplane. Filer confirmed that if either the front-seater or back-seater pulls the ejection handle in the Russian jet, both seats eject.
The observer-pilot in the back apparently told the NTSB that “they were compressed for time and needed to get out. When asked if he had pulled the ejection seat handles, he stated that he could not specifically remember but thinks that he would have pulled them…”
Obviously, the two pilots were not on the same page. The NTSB preliminary report offers no information on what the possible engine problem was. Nor does it provide altitude, airspeed and distance-to-runway information at the time of the ejections. These will be included in a full report as well as judgements of how the crew handled the emergency and whether a landing might have been successfully attempted.
Fortunately, all that was lost was the supersonic MiG. For those curious about its value, there was an online sale listing with an asking price of $1.4 million.
The listing detailed new aircraft equipment including “radios, GPS, digital transponder. Hot ejection seats with new pyro recently installed. Mach 2.35. Cockpits refurbished and all relabeled in English. New tires. 3 extra drag chutes and tow bar included. Spare engines available for $400,000 each. Training available.”
While the mishap is a reminder of the demands of flying high performance jet fighters in private hands, seeing such Cold War aircraft on the airshow circuit is thrilling, historically informative and worthwhile – a practice that can and should continue as long as private individuals are willing to make the investment and take the risk.
Who initiated punching out of the MiG in this case, what the problem was and why will eventually be figured out. Lessons will be learned. Here’s hoping one of them is that one of the remaining MiG-23s in the U.S. with airworthiness potential is worth flying again.
Read the full article here