YPSILANTI, Mich. (WXYZ) — Officials say two people have been taken to a local hospital after they successfully ejected an aircraft before a crash during the Yankee Air Museum's Thunder Over Michigan Air Show on Sunday.
According to the Wayne County Airport Authority, a MiG-23 demonstration plane crashed into a parking lot at the Waverly on the Lake Apartments in Belleville shortly after 4 p.m.
“While it did not appear they sustained any injuries, first responders transported the pair to a nearby hospital as a precaution. The aircraft struck unoccupied vehicles in the apartment complex’s parking lot. No one at the apartment complex nor the air show was injured," the statement via Twitter read.
The NTSB held a news conference on Monday afternoon, saying the pilots reported engine problems and a loss of power and they were not able to correct it, and they had to eject from the airplane.
It's not clear when the engine issues started, and officials say they are very early on in the investigation, and they have not spoken with the pilots directly.
Those officials say they are arranging to have a recovery crew come to the scene and get the airplane so they can do further examination off-site. The complexity of the fighter jet makes it hard to do an on-scene investigation.
The official said that the plane traveled for about 500 feet after it made an initial impact, and it's very fortunate no one on the ground was injured.
See chopper video of the aftermath from Monday morning below
Officials say the FAA is investigating the crash.
Please see statement reguarding the incident at the Yankee Air Museum's Thunder Over Michigan Air Show. pic.twitter.com/DS6cvVkMrm
— DTW Airport (@DTWeetin) August 13, 2023
“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 said on Facebook Sunday shortly after the incident. “Please be patient as we control traffic around the area.”
What we know about the pilot
According to the Air Show's website, the plane was piloted by Dan Filer, who is from Texas.
Last year, KTBS, the ABC station based in Shreveport, Louisiana, profiled Filer as part of a "Hometown Patriot" segment.
According to KTBS, Filer collects Soviet-made fighter jets and is a retired U.S. Navy lieutenant commander.
"It's the only privately owned flying MiG 23 in the world," Filer told KTBS last year.
The TV station also reports that he has two other MiG fighter jets that he's restoring and a training jet.
