Expert: Pilots had one day for drills before show flight

Polish aviation expert Bartosz Golowacki says that the Belarusian pilots who crashed on Sunday did not have enough time to study the airfield and properly prepare for the flight.

The Su-27 jet went down while performing maneuvers at a festival in Radom, 65 miles (105 kilometers) south of Warsaw.

BG: I think that the pilots might have had little time to study the airfield. They made one flight on Friday but did not fly on Saturday because of rain. They crashed on Sunday. People are just people. They were performing a stunt and might have found themselves over part of the airfield where they were not sure where the skyline was, right or left. They might have lost bearings.

Golowacki noted that Alyaksandr Marfitski was aged 53 and Alyaksandr Zhuraulevich 46, while flyers achieve the best shape at 23.

BG: After 20 years of career people sit in office performing operational functions. They do not fly for physical reasons. Americans did a research and found that 23 is the best age for pilots. They are aggressive and physically fitter."

He added, however, that age may have different effects on flying skills.

BG: There is no rule. This is an individual matter. Those who perform stunt flights work under stress for five or six minutes and then rest all day."