Pilots ejected from a MiG-23 fighter plane shortly before it crashed during the Thunder Over Michigan show on Sunday.
The unoccupied plane came down near an apartment complex near Belleville Road off I-94 at around 4:30 p.m., and reportedly hit parked vehicles.
There were no casualties, or injuries at the crash site, and the pilots managed to parachute into Belleville Lake, where they were safely recovered from by first responders.
Video of plane crashing at the Thunder Over Michigan Air Show and pilots parachuting. Hoping everyone is ok. #thunderovermichigan pic.twitter.com/RtAAjw7OVV
— Dan Phillips (@danphillips46) August 13, 2023
“The pilot and backseater successfully ejected from the aircraft before the crash,” the Wayne County Airport Authority said in a statement.
“While it did not appear they sustained any significant injuries, first responders transported the pair to a nearby hospital as a precaution.”
Spectator video footage shows the moment the aircrew ejected from the plane as it began to emit smoke, with a brief sighting of fire coming out of the aircraft.
#BreakingNews A plane has crashed during air show in Michigan
— Lilian (@lilian37458552) August 13, 2023
Pilots seen ejecting out of the plane#airshow #planecrash pic.twitter.com/HEO6uhaW3q
The vintage Soviet jet was part of Thunder Over Michigan, which promptly announced the end of the air show on their Facebook page following the incident.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a situation that requires us to stop the show,” organizers wrote. “Please make your way into your vehicles and calmly make your way out of the airfield.”
Witness Matthew Gerick said he was watching the plane fly towards the highway when it “kept getting lower and lower.”
“Then my wife and I saw the black smoke so we drove to see the crash on 94,” he told the Detroit Free Press. “And it landed right next to the apartment building.”
Willow Run Air Show Crash pic.twitter.com/2cvrUuKbmC
— Daniel Maier (@dmaier13) August 13, 2023
Mike Gatteri was watching the show from his boat when the pilot ejected “right over top” his group of 30 family and friends.
“We come out to the air show every single year and we watch it on the lake and it’s always an amazing show,” he told Newsweek. “It’s just absolutely unreal to see what happened today. But thank God everyone’s okay.”
Gatteri said that the plane went down in “a pretty populated area,” where it could have caused major casualties.
“So, you know, to avoid the apartments, avoid all the houses avoid all the boats on the lake and land in an area that didn’t hurt anyone was it’s a miracle,” he remarked.
