1989 Belgium MiG-23 crash

History of the flight

The incident started as a routine training flight. Colonel Nikolai Skuridin, the pilot, was to fly a MiG-23M from the Bagicz Airbase near Kołobrzeg, Poland. During takeoff, the engine's afterburner failed, causing a partial loss of power. At an altitude of 150 m and descending, Skuridin elected to abandon the aircraft and ejected safely. However, the engine kept running and the aircraft remained airborne, flying on autopilot in a westerly direction.

The unmanned aircraft left Polish airspace, crossing into East Germany and then West Germany, where it was intercepted by a pair of F-15s from the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron of the United States Air Forces Europe, stationed at Soesterberg Air Base in the Netherlands. The F-15 pilots reported that the MiG had no crew. At that stage the aircraft was potentially heading towards the United Kingdom's airspace, so a live armed Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Phantom FGR2 of 56(F) Squadron was scrambled from RAF Wattisham in Suffolk and instructed to fly at maximum subsonic speed to the Kent coast and be prepared to shoot the MiG down if it crossed the English Channel.

The MiG-23 crossed into Dutch airspace and continued into Belgium. The escorting F-15s were instructed to shoot down the plane, but as the MiG ran out of fuel, it started a slow turn to the south, prompting the French Air Force to put its fighters on alert. After flying over 900 km, the MiG eventually crashed into the house at 273 Doorniksesteenweg, in the town of Bellegem, near Kortrijk, some 5-10 km from the French border, killing a local resident.

Victim

The only victim of the accident was Wim Delaere, a computer science student reported to have been either 18 or 19 years old. He was sleeping alone after celebrating the end of his university exams the previous day when the MiG crashed and killed him at 10:30 am. His mother and brother were shopping for groceries in Kortrijk, and his father was working in Ypres.

Political aftermath

The Belgian government made a formal protest to the Soviet Union for the lack of notification about the stray aircraft. The Belgian Foreign Minister Mark Eyskens expressed concern that there was no warning from the Soviet side during the flight and that there was a "notable slowness" on the part of the Soviets in disclosing whether the jet was carrying nuclear or toxic weapons. The Soviet Union paid Belgium $685,000 in compensation. | SEE ALSO SECTION | | Do not add links to other accidents simply because you think they are similar to this one. | Similarity must be based on reliable sources, like anything else. |

References

References

1. [http://mm.iit.uni-miskolc.hu/Data/Winx/stories/accid23.html Incident overview from Eastern Wings]
2. (6 July 1989). "Belgians Protest to Soviets Over Crash of Derelict MIG". New York Times.
3. Davies, Steve, and Dildy, Doug, "F-15 Eagle Engaged – The World's Most Successful Jet Fighter", Osprey Publishing, Botley, Oxford, UK, 2007, {{ISBN. 978-1-84603-169-4, pages 102–106.
4. https://www.lavoixdunord.fr/1062193/article/2021-08-29/sur-les-traces-de-l-avion-fantome-qui-failli-s-ecraser-sur-lille La Voix Du Nord, August 29, 2021
5. https://www.rbth.com/history/330613-russian-jet-belgium-catastrophe/amp rbth Russia Beyond, July 4, 2019