07.07.2009.
PRESS CONFERENCE ON OCCASION OF THE CRASH
On occasion of the MiG 29 crash this morning when Lt. Col. Rade Randjelovic and soldier Milan Ulemek lost their lives, Brigadier General Nebojsa Djukanovic, Deputy Air Force Commander and Brigadier General Mirko Vranic, commander of 204th aviation base as well as colonels Ranko Zivak, Assistant Commander of Joint Operations Command (JOC) and Sreto Malinovic, Assistant Commander of Air Force for Operations addressed the media at the press conference held in SAF Central Dome.
Brig. Gen. Nebojsa Djukanovic extended his condolences to the families of the killed pilot and soldier. Djukanovic said that the exact time of the crash was 09:10 and the location was the vicinity of Batajnica air field. The plane was completely ruined when the air craft hit the ground, as he said, adding that soldier Vojislav Dragoljevic sustained light injuries while extinguishing the fire; he has been hospitalized at MMA and his life is not endangered.Stressing that Lt. Col. Randjelovic was one of the best trained pilots in the SAF Air Force and that he was the bearer of all flight instructor and pilot titles in SAF Air Force. He pointed out that he had had some 900 flight hours, where 300 were on MiG29. This year he had had 20 flight hours, which made him completely ready for the flight program he was performing. This morning, the pilot was rehearsing for the upcoming air show to be held in Belgrade this weekend.
Djukanovic also mentioned that the plane had been repaired last year and had been attested for flight for the next 10 years, that is, for 700 hours. The air craft was in perfect condition, and as Brig. Gen. mentioned SAF GS had already established a committee which would look into the causes of the accident. Furthermore, as he remarked, all air crafts of the same type have been grounded until the cause of the accident is found. Even though he did not want to speculate on the causes, he did not exclude the possibility of a technical malfunction.
The commander of 204th base Brigadier General Mirko Vranic said that the soldier killed today was Milan Ulemek, born in 1985, in Stara Pazova. The plane crashed in the area where the soldier was performing his duty. The delegation led by the commander of the unit informed the family of the accident and expressed condolences.