site.btaPresident, Senior Officers Pay Last Respects to Pilots Who Died in Graf Ignatievo Tragedy

On September 21, a military ritual was held at the Dolna Mitropoliya Air Base, to pay last respects to Major Petko Dimitrov and First Lieutenant Ventsislav Dunkin, who died on September 13, 2024, fulfilling their official duty.

President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov, Chief of Defence Admiral Emil Eftimov, Air Force Commander Major General Dimitar Petrov, senior officers of the Bulgarian Army, servicemen and colleagues close to the deceased came to pay their respects to two of the most experienced pilots at the airbase, the Defence Ministry said. No media were allowed at the event.

On September 13, while preparing for a demonstration flight at Graf Ignatievo Air Base, a military L-39 ZA aircraft crashed near the Graf Ignatievo Air Base, killing the two pilots on board.

A three-day mourning was announced in the municipality of Dolna Mitropolia in memory of the fallen pilots. Their memory was also honoured in Pleven.

Caretaker Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov said on Friday that the aircraft's black box will be read at the manufacturing plant in Czechia.

Representatives of the executive and local authorities, the ambassadors of Argentina, Great Britain, Greece, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, North Macedonia, Minister of National Defence of Greece, the Chiefs of Defence of Austria, Albania, Greece, Lithuania, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, the military attachés of Great Britain, Germany, Poland, USA, Turkey, Hungary, France, expressed their condolences to the relatives of the fallen pilots and servicemen of the Bulgarian Army in addresses to the Minister of Defence and the Chief of Defence.