Thunder Over Michigan crash: Plane hits unoccupied vehicles as airshow goes awry

Thunder Over Michigan crash: Plane hits unoccupied vehicles as airshow goes awry

Jessica Skeens Wynn thought she was used to feeling the impact of planes flying over her apartment during the Thunder Over Michigan show, but she felt something markedly different Sunday evening.

The airshow was cut short Sunday, Aug. 13 when an unknown malfunction caused two plane passengers to eject before the plane crashed into the parking lot of the Waverly on the Lake Apartments complex in Belleville.

Related: 2 hospitalized after plane crash halts airshow in Ypsilanti

“When the plane actually hit, I could hear the whole apartment move,” said Skeens Wynn, a resident of Waverly on the Lake. “You can always feel it when the jets go over top for the airshow, but with this one all of my cats and the bird freaked out and ran. The impact was so heavy, it shook pretty hard.”

Wayne County Airport Authority Public Relations Manager Randy Wimbley said the plane crashed into “some unoccupied vehicles” near the complex but that no one was injured.

A news release from the air show stated the crash involving a MiG-23 demonstration plane took place shortly after 4 p.m.

The pilot and backseater successfully ejected from the aircraft before the crash, officials from the Wayne County Airport Authority said.

Sean Barlett said he saw the crash transpire from the Hantz Hangar where he saw the plane take off traveling west before circling back around when he heard what sounded like two “pop” noises before the two pilots were ejected from the plane. About 5 to 10 second later Barlett said he could hear the crash.

“We didn’t see the actual plane crash – we saw the explosion,” Barlett said. “At some air shows they drop test missiles or parachutes for display purposes and exhibition purposes, but with this, it was very obvious that it was not part of the show.”

Both pilots were taken to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in stable condition by the Huron Valley Ambulance after the crash. The patients were alert and awake as of 5 p.m. Sunday, said Marc Breckenridge, Huron Valley Ambulance public information officer.

The cause of the crash has not yet been disclosed by airshow officials. The FAA is investigating the crash.

The 25th anniversary airshow took place Aug. 12 and 13.