SU-26 Down After Engine Failure During Flight To Athens

Lithuanian aerobatic pilot Jurgis Kairys found himself in an untenable position during a flight from Kavala to Athens in Greece earlier this week. His SU-26 airplane suffered an engine failure over the Aegean Sea, and Kairys determined that his best chance for survival was to bail out of the airplane.

That began a three-hours-long swim in the ocean secured to a floating piece of the wreckage of the airplane while he waited for rescue.

The Bhutan News Service reports that Kairys said he was flying at about 3,000 feet when the engine failure occurred about a half hour after takeoff. He said he had tied himself to a piece of the plane to make himself more visible after parachuting into the water, and began to swim towards a nearby island. He said he had hoped to reach the island by the next morning.

Rescue helicopters located the pilot, who had been recognized as a world-class aerobatic pilot in the unlimited class between 1996 and 2006, after he had been in the water about three hours. Kairys said the SAR aircraft flew over him twice before finally spotting him in the water.

(Image of Kairys performing captured from YouTube video)

FMI: www.hcaa.gr/home/index.asp?lang=2