VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Monday afternoon, the National Transportation Safety Board gave a briefing on the jet crash that occurred during an air show at Willow Run Airport on Sunday.
Both occupants survived the crash and no one on the ground was hurt. NTSB senior air safety investigator John Brannen said one pilot suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The MiG-23 Russian fighter crashed and came to a stop about 20 feet from a building at the Waverly on the Lake Apartments. The NTSB said residents could be allowed back into the building closest to the site as early as Tuesday.
However, the NTSB said it could take several months and up to two years to determine what exactly went wrong with the aircraft. Brannen said the occupants had ejected once they noticed engine difficulties and loss of power.
Susan Juchau said she wasn’t home at the time of Sunday’s crash at the Thunder Over Michigan Air Show, but she said she typically watches it while out on the lake.
She recalled, “I had people calling me saying, ‘Are you ok? Are you ok?’"
“I always wonder when we’re watching the planes at the air shows — we go out on the lake on our pontoon boat — and I always wondered like, 'Oh my gosh. One of them could plummet into the lake,' something happens or if there’s a crash," she explained.
The NTSB said once the Russian fighter jet initially hit the ground, it then traveled about 500 more feet and crashed into trees and unoccupied vehicles before coming to a rest about 20 feet from the apartment building.
An oak tree is credited with deflecting and slowing the plane down.
“It’s very fortunate, of course, that nobody on the ground was injured,” Brannen said.
He said both people on the aircraft landed in Belleville Lake and were rescued by boaters.
Because of the complexity of the outdated Russian aircraft, Brannen said it will be moved and studied elsewhere.
For environmental impact, 7 Action News spoke with Joe Degrazia, who's an incident management specialist with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
“The emergency has been mitigated and now, we’re in what’s called a recovery phase," Degrazia said.
He said fuel is being scraped from the soil. Standing water and gas have been removed. Impacted vehicles and one of the jet's wings were hosed down with foam.
As a precaution, booms and a dam have been put into Willow Run Creek, and sewers were blocked.
The NTSB expects to publish a preliminary report in about 10 days. But again, a probable cause could take as long as two years.
