Jet crashes during Thunder Over Michigan air show at Willow Run Airport

By FOX 2 Staff and Abe Dabaja
Published August 13, 2023 4:38PM
FOX 2 Detroit

YPSILANTI, Mich. (FOX 2) - A jet crashed during Sunday's Thunder Over Michigan Air Show at Willow Run Airport.

According to authorities, a MiG 23 Russian Fighter jet crashed at around 4:00 p.m. near an apartment complex off I-94 freeway near Belleville Road.

Officials say two pilots had to eject. They were recovered from the water and did not have significant injuries...

Complete article with video:

https://www.fox2detroit.com/ne...t-willow-run-airport

Gotta wonder who owned the jet and where were the pilots from? Can civilians own & fly MiG-23s here?

Aah...found more: "The MiG-23UB, registration N23UB, was owned by former Navy A-6 Intruder pilot Dan Flier."

Article about the pilot who just ejected, Dan Filer. His day job is flying the 777 for United.

https://www.ktbs.com/community...e0-733c00889f1a.html

42 minute Mig 23 walkaround from the same guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsHPoQygnVQ&t=926s

Mig-23 has a reputation as a pilot killer. Lots of Do Not Do type of instruction with them; I'm sure much has to do with lack of parts but, also the big differences in US and Soviet-era aeronautic controls. Back in the mid-80's, there was a USAF general was was killed flying one of these. The program was a deep black-side operation out of Area-51 or, Tonopah, but, he didn't do the intense familiarization flight before hand and ended up auguring into the ground.

Glad all are well, a shame about the loss of the aircraft. But that video made me think two things:

Delta must be paying well.

And... does you auto insurance cover a Mig landing on it?

I had a friend send me some pictures of the ejection, the descent, and aftermath taken from the lake. Moments later I received an alert on my scanner app and tuned in.

Here is what I can share from what I heard
- The aircraft was flying low over the lake when both crew members ejected.
- The wings were extended (swept forward) at time of ejection and subsequent flight
- The aircraft cleared the treeline at the shore before crashing into the apartment complex. It appeared to be in a roll to the left.
- The aircraft impacted the ground in the parking lot near Building 18
- No one on the ground was reported injured as of 1930hrs
- The pilot was at St. Mary's hospital and was being interviewed by officials within an hour of the incident
- Airshow operations were terminated immediately and shortly thereafter people were sent home. Unfortunately this hampered the efforts as it created a massive traffic jam on the freeway bordering the incident delaying the arrival of assets.
- Emergency services were on scene rapidly and extinguished the fire quickly
- The media became a constant source of irritation for Incident Command as they would not listen to instructions or stay in the designated media area
- Local, County, and State LEO arrived quickly as did FBI, Homeland Security, FAA, and Air Show Security (called to assist LEO)
- Boaters on the lake assisted with the rescue of the crew, and recovery of their equipment (parachutes and other debris) and were cooperative with law enforcement
- Local residents assisted LEO/FAA by searching for and identifying debris on their property
- FAA brought in a drone that would map the incident scene using special flags used to mark debris
- The Air Show sent a truck with several port-a-pottys to the scene
- Several food vendors offered to set up to support the incident workers
- Water, ice, and other needs were provided by residents and Red Cross
- Residents of all buildings except Building 18 were allowed to return by 1900hrs
- Residents of building 18 were escorted in to retrieve needed supplies. The building would be closed until structurally evaluated leading to the assumption it was struck by debris or damaged by fire.
- Statement was made many times that the incident area would be secured for a minimum of 36 hours

From the previous video posted it's clear the pictures I have were taken from a boat further down the lake from the videos shown.

I just saw one of these at the Air Force museum today. In the end it’s only metal and everybody lived.

quote:

- The aircraft impacted the ground in the parking lot near Building 18
- No one on the ground was reported injured as of 1930hrs

Lucky.

quote:

- The aircraft was flying low over the lake when both crew members ejected.

I wonder if they were trying to ditch it in the water.

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:

quote:

- The aircraft impacted the ground in the parking lot near Building 18
- No one on the ground was reported injured as of 1930hrs

Lucky.

quote:

- The aircraft was flying low over the lake when both crew members ejected.

I wonder if they were trying to ditch it in the water.

That is hard to say, the lake and crash site is directly south of the airport, other side of I-94.

I can't tell you how the specific air show in question was set up but it is a large show and considered well organized.

It is possible the aircraft pass over the lake as part of setting up a south to north pass based on the direction of travel and proximity to the airfield. Given the location of the Yankee Air Museum that would tend to make sense. In their flight path the lake would have appeared very short and wide as it is really part of a river that runs East to West. It also looks like a really wide river with bends in it so even on an E-W pass likely not your best bet to ditch unless you were going for the lawn dart approach.

I can tell you that commercial traffic for Detroit Metro Airport was re-routed the entire weekend to the north to free up that air space.

I can tell you that aircraft routinely flew over Canton (to the North) as I have friends living there who enjoyed the show from their back yards. This would back up a N/S or S/N flight pattern.

If I had to make a guess at this point, they were likely setting up a pass and had an issue (yes I know an understatement), were unable to resolve and decided to exit the jet.

There is a remote possibility that one of them might have accidentally triggered the ejection sequence, or it self triggered due to a malfunction. I admit I'm not well versed in the 1970's era Russian KM-1 Ejection technology and how it functions. Fortunately for the crew, they worked.

This article is thin on detail but does have a nice map at the bottom showing the lake and crash proximity to the airport

https://www.clickondetroit.com...ars-in-wayne-county/

"It’s still unclear what caused the MiG-23 aircraft to crash..."

Uh, maybe because that's what planes eventually do when people stop trying to prevent them from crashing?

That's the unclear question, why did the pilots stop trying?

Gonna be an interesting conversation in the 777 cockpit:

Hey Joe, how was your weekend?

My daughter had a dance recital, how about yours, Dan?

I crashed a MiG23 into an apartment building in Ypsilanti.

Before it went down

Bummer. Reports have said there were no injuries (on the ground).

Many, many years ago I lived in that apartment complex

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:

Complete article with video:

https://www.fox2detroit.com/ne...t-willow-run-airport

Great example of why most news media absolutely suck. While this crash was unfortunate, it was no major catastrophe, despite the efforts of these nitwits to make it sound that way.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
Mig-23 has a reputation as a pilot killer. Lots of Do Not Do type of instruction with them; I'm sure much has to do with lack of parts but, also the big differences in US and Soviet-era aeronautic controls. Back in the mid-80's, there was a USAF general was was killed flying one of these. The program was a deep black-side operation out of Area-51 or, Tonopah, but, he didn't do the intense familiarization flight before hand and ended up auguring into the ground.

I read two books about that black program - flying Soviet fighters out in the Nevada desert to train US pilots how to fight/kill them. The MiG-23 had a reputation as a death trap. One pilot said we should buy our enemies all the -23's they wanted, as they would kill more of their own pilots than allied ones. . .

That 2-star General was doing a pre-retirement 'screw off tour,' visiting all the bases under his command. He literally took a joy ride in the MiG, since there was absolutely NO justifiable reason for him to fly it.

I like 'warbirds,' but I don't think civilians should fly that particular model of aircraft. I believe it to be inherently unsafe.

Today the FAA said they were experiencing engine problems and declared an emergency

I was at this airshow yesterday. This the Mig 23 taking off for the last time.

This was the view from the airshow grounds, just smoke on the horizon.