The video in this post features the so called ‘Su-27 Mirgorod Pyramid.’

Taken at Mirgorod Air Base, Ukraine, on May 26, 1997 the video in this post features the so called ‘Su-27 Mirgorod Pyramid.’

This one of a kind accident took place when Su-27UB ’68 Blue’ jumped chocks during engine starting due to a throttle lever accidentally set to full afterburner and hit Su-27UB ’72 Red’ and Su-27 ’07 Red.’

As told by Yefim Gordon and Dmitriy Komissarov in their book Sukhoi Su-27 & 30/33/34/35, both trainers were eventually repaired, but the single-seater was written off and became a museum exhibit.

Noteworthy after the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 a considerable number of Su-27s have been lost. The causes of the accidents varied – hardware failure, the tell-tale human factor (errors or negligence), external factors (such as bird strike) and insufficient flight hours clocked by Flanker drivers.

Anyway no aircraft type is immune against accident attrition.