On Tuesday 6th December around 12:30UTC, a Croatian Air Force MiG-21UM crashed during a routine military exercise in an uninhabited forest area between Daruvar and Slatina, about 115km southeast of Pleso air base (Zagreb/Franjo Tudjman), located in northeastern Croatia.
The Croatian Defense Ministry said the two-seater MiG-21 was part of a 4-ship formation. The other aircraft returned to base successfully.
The aircraft was operated by 191. Eskadrila Lovačkih Aviona (191st Fighter Squadron), and its military serial number is reported as 164 (c/n 516969001). The Croatian Air Force operated eight MiG-21s of which four were MiG-21UM.
The cause of the accident has been reported as an engine failure, but this has not yet been confirmed.
Two Croatian Air Force Mil-Mi 171Sh helicopters, military police and drones were deployed to search for the pilots, assisted by civil protection officers and firefighters as the search was difficult due to the rough mountainous terrain. The spoken person said that both pilots are currently being examined at a nearby hospital but none have life-threating injuries and are in stable condition following a successful ejection from the aircraft.
