The only flying MiG-23 in North America went down this afternoon at the Thunder Over Michigan air show at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti.
Videos circulating online show both crew successfully ejected from the Soviet fighter jet, and their parachutes deployed, as the plane plunged behind a tree line shortly after 4:00pm local.
The air show was immediately stopped and ended following the incident. Witnesses could hear the ejection, and say the crew ejected over a lake. The plane itself crashed into the parking lot of an apartment complex. Several vehicles were damaged, but no injuries have been reported by authorities on the scene.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a situation that requires us to stop the show. Please make your way into your vehicles and calmly make your way out of the airfield,” Thunder Over Michigan wrote in a Facebook post. “Please be patient as we control traffic around the area.”
The jet was based out KGGG in Longview, TX. Pilot Dan Filer and his crew have been restoring other MiG-23s too.
We will update once the air show and / or local authorities provide an update. The cause of the crash is unknown, but the crew have been recovered and are alive.
