In Bulgaria, a tragic accident occurred during a training flight ahead of the country’s 20th anniversary of NATO membership. An L-39ZA two-seat training aircraft crashed during airshow preparations, resulting in the deaths of two instructor pilots. The incident took place at Graf Ignatievo Air Base, and it was reported that Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev arrived at the base following the crash.
Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov confirmed that the crash, which happened at 12:30 PM local time, involved an L-39ZA aircraft. Following the accident, the Bulgarian Ministry of Defense announced the cancellation of the international airshow planned for the following day to mark NATO’s 20th anniversary. An investigation into the incident has been launched. On the same day, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev had participated as a co-pilot in an F-16 aircraft at the same airbase.
