# Serbian J-22 Orao Strike Aircraft Crashed, No Casualties



## imalko (Jun 4, 2010)

Aircraft J-22 Orao (Eagle) of Serbian Air Force, flown by Major Slobodan Jocić (41), Commanding officer of 1st Flight 241st Fighter-Bomber Squadron 98th Aviation base, crashed on Thursday (June 3) into the Gružansko lake near Kragujevac.

The cause of the crash was malfunction of left leg of main landing gear which remained locked in closed position. Since the pilot was unable to land the aircraft safely due to this malfunction he was ordered to direct the aircraft into the lake and to eject. As it was said by the Army officials on the press conference, the pilot took all regulatory procedures in order to lower the landing gear but was unsuccessful. 
"Major Jocić, being the one of most experienced pilots on this type of aircraft, did all that was in his power to try to save the plane and avoid ejection. He even made two low level passes touching the runway with right landing gear in an effort to unlock the left landing gear unit. Low on fuel and short on options, the pilot was ordered to direct the plane into unpopulated area and to eject..." - Brigadier General Ranko Živak explained at the press conference.
The pilot landed to the lake, but suffered minor injury on his spine and was taken to the hospital for observation. He's injuries are not life threatening.

J-22 Orao is subsonic strike aircraft developed and manufactured as a joint venture of Yugoslavia and Romania. According to the report to the OSCE for 2009, Serbian Air Force operates 32 J-22s. Aircraft which crashed, J-22 registration number 25156, was manufactured in 1987. Aircraft was overhauled in early March 2010 since when it flew 24 flight hours. Army officials announced that aircraft will be recovered from the lake. Until the exact cause of the landing gear malfunction is determined all J-22s will remain grounded.

All pictures in the attachment show the aircraft in question "25156" at it's last public appearance - Open day at Niš Airport couple of days ago. As you can see it's a high wing aircraft with relatively narrow fuselage which makes belly landings very risky as the aircraft is prone to overturn. This is the main reason why pilot was ordered to eject in stead of attempting the belly landing. One picture shows close up of Orao main landing gear unit and another shows pilot being rushed to the hospital after the incident. As a side note, at the time of the incident formation of four J-22s was carrying out intensive flight training.


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## Matt308 (Jun 4, 2010)

Dang... hope he recovers quickly, Imalko.


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## RabidAlien (Jun 4, 2010)

Pilot fought to save the plane, gotta respect that.  Glad to hear he's gonna be okay!


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## vikingBerserker (Jun 4, 2010)

I agree, nicely done on his part.


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## Lucky13 (Jun 5, 2010)

Credits to the pilot!


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## imalko (Jun 5, 2010)

Aircraft J-22 Orao "25156", which crashed into the artificial lake near Kragujevac two days ago, was raised from the water today. The wreck was lying on the depth of some 10 meters and was raised by the joint effort of Army engineers and River flotilla members. 
Pilot is reported to be recovering fine and will be released from the hospital soon.


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## Gnomey (Jun 5, 2010)

Good work on the pilots part. Glad to hear he is OK.


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## FLYBOYJ (Jun 5, 2010)

Glad this all worked out. Very neat aircraft, would love to see one in the US.


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## RabidAlien (Jun 5, 2010)

Holy crap, the dude floated away from THAT with just "minor back injury"????


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## gjs238 (Jun 5, 2010)

Well, he did eject.


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## Dusan Lekic (Jun 5, 2010)

FLYBOYJ said:


> Glad this all worked out. Very neat aircraft, would love to see one in the US.



Well, Eagle/Orao with a newer camouflage it would look even better, cammo something like The Hog...

All the best!
Dusan.


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## RabidAlien (Jun 5, 2010)

gjs238 said:


> Well, he did eject.




Yeah, went back and re-read it. 3rd paragraph says the pilot landed in the lake, but the last one says he ejected. Guess if he ejected just before touching down, that could explain the back injury (parachute not having enough time to fully deploy and slow his descent). Heh. I was gonna say something about investing heavily in the company that makes those in-dash airbags, but that would be a cheesy comment and so I won't.


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## FLYBOYJ (Jun 6, 2010)

RabidAlien said:


> Holy crap, the dude floated away from THAT with just "minor back injury"????



That's the first report - no matter how good the seat is, there is usually an injury sustained during ejection. That minor back injury could have long terms effects. Hopefully this guy will fully recover.


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