|
Posted on 07/30/2002 5:51:35 AM PDT by CPI News
Ukraine plane crash kills 78; survivor recounts story
By Daniel S. McClintock
While most Americans could only stare dumbfounded at pictures of the plane crash in Ukraine last Saturday, one American experienced the horror face to face. A man who wishes to keep his last name anonymous, was present in Lviv, Ukraine to see the air show with his fiancé Tanya.
"I told Tanya that it would be all to likely for an accident to happen and that we should stay in the background away from the main crowd," James recounted. Finding an old cargo plane which was located near the crowd and open for the public, James and his fiancé climbed aboard.
In the exclusive interview CPI reporters had, James described the last moments before the plane struck. "So we heard a plane that seemed to be very close to us, then a little bit later the plane we were in began to shake and buffet a little bit and we started to think that the plane flying overhead the 'jet' was way to close."
They then heard a "terrible noise like something was not right with the jet." The Russian Sukhoi Su-27 had sliced it's wing on the ground while unable to pull out of a difficult roll. The plane slammed into the nose of the cargo jet James and Tanya were in, clipping off the nose and throwing debris and metal up into the air. Immediately the Su-27 burst into a ball of flames.
He "immediately saw the wreck path because the grass was mowed down and torn up along with small pieces of debris. There were no people in the destruction path and it was quite wide. I could see the huge fireball where the plane had ended up and that already they had fire trucks going to the scene to put out the fire."
"We make it to the back of the plane and for a moment I looked forward and saw a young girl sitting on the grass holding her arm and crying. I could not tell if she was hurt or just really scared," James said. "Then I looked to my right and realized that there were bodies or should I say parts laying on the tarmac, just in front of the nose of the plane we were in and I realized that people had been mowed down."
Calling it as "the biggest tragedy he had ever seen", he described the scene after the crash: "The mood of the crowd was very somber with women crying all over the place. As we were walking away we realized just how close we were to death. The thick insulation in the cargo hold really shielded us from the noise and sonic wave of the jet."
Although James and his fiancé were indeed fortunate to be alive, others were not so fortunate. Seventy-eight people were killed during those tragic seconds, and 115 were wounded in what President Kuchma described as being "A terrible tragedy [that] no words can describe."
http://www.cpinews.net/archives/2002-q3/ukraine.plane.crash/index.htm
|
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
