Type Let L-410MA Passengers 17 Total fatalities 7 Passenger count 17 Location Slovakia | Registration OM-SAB Date 20 August 2015 Total survivors 31 Crew count 2 | |
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Summary Mid-air collision of two aircraft Site Over Červený Kameň, Slovakia Flight origin Slávnica airport, Slovakia Similar 2015 Moncks Corner mi, Avia Traffic Company Flight 768, 2015 Juba An‑12 crash, Carson Air Flight 66, Turkish Airlines Flight 1878 | ||
The 2015 Červený Kameň mid-air collision occurred on 20 August 2015, when two Let L-410 Turbolet aircraft collided in mid-air over Červený Kameň, Slovakia, and crashed in a forest. The aircraft were carrying 17 parachutists and 2 pilots each.
Accident
On 20 August 2015, (local time) two Dubnica Air Let L-410 aircraft (registrations OM-SAB and OM-ODQ), crashed at 9:23 in the morning, according to local reports, in a forest near Červený Kameň, north-western Slovakia, following a mid-air collision between both aircraft. Both aircraft were carrying parachutists who were training for the Slavnica 2015 Air Show. Both aircraft came down in a wooded area after they hit each other at an altitude of around 1,500 m (4,900 ft) under unknown circumstances. All four crew members, two from each aircraft, and three parachutists were killed, but 31 others survived by jumping out of the aircraft. Five of the parachutists were treated for minor injuries. There was a video shot showing that OM-SAB was consumed by fire.
A call was made to emergency services at 9:23 about the crash. Fire and rescue service, ambulances, police and a rescue helicopter were dispatched to the crash site. Witnesses reported that the pilots appeared to make an effort until the last moment of the crash to avoid falling into a residential area. If they had failed, there could have been far more victims. The TV station Markíza reported that the collision occurred directly above the village. Wreckage of the two aircraft that crashed was difficult to access due to the forest terrain near the village of Cerveny Kamen in the district of Ilava where they were found. All victims of the disaster were of Slovakian nationality. One of the crew members was a former Slovak ice hockey player Michal Česnek.