Already five years have passed since the tragedy at the Sknyliv aerodrome. Nothing has been forgotten, nor can it be. The Sknyliv tragedy was the worst accident in the history of air shows. Five years ago an SU-27 malfunctioned and plummeted into a crowd of spectators. On July 27, 2007, at 12:48 p.m., 77 balloons soared into the skies over Lviv, one for each of the victims. Once a year on this date, the military aerodrome is open to civilians, who come to visit the memorial that was established to honor the victims of the tragedy.
In November 2002 the parents of the children who died at the aerodrome, fed up with government red tape, banded together to found a civic organization called Sknyliv Tragedy. They had to go through endless medical checkups in order to receive financial compensation. Some churlish countrymen, instead of showing sympathy, claimed that the victims of the tragedy were only after money.
In July 2005 the Military Court of Appeal of the Central District handed down a guilty verdict to the three pilots of the fighter plane, as well as several second-rank military men. Later the Supreme Court upheld this decision. Today four airmen are serving their sentences in the 115th Kaharlyk Reformatory (Kyiv oblast). Second Pilot Yurii Yehorov received an eight- year sentence, the second-in-command of the 14th Aviation Corps, General Anatolii Tretiakov, received a six-year sentence, and his assistant Yurii Yatsiuk, a five-year sentence. The former chief flight safety officer, Anatolii Lukinykh, received a suspended four-year sentence. Commanding officer Volodymyr Toponar received the longest sentence - 14 years.
There is no feeling of general responsibility for the organization of the air show among the imprisoned airmen. Some victims’ relatives say that generals should have been imprisoned, not the pilots.
