Photo shows pilots ejecting from their jet moments before it crashed into the ground

November 28, 2012 Aviation Safety / Air Crashes, Military Aviation

David Cenciotti

The following image was taken by Erwin Fuguet Gedde at Maracay-El Libertador airbase, Venezuela, where the Venezuelan Air Force was celebrating its 92 Anniversary with the Día de la Aviación.

It depicts a Hongdu K-8 Karakorum (a two-seat intermediate jet trainer and light attack aircraft designed in China) about to crash into the ground near the airport, moments after the two pilots onboard had safely ejected from the doomed jet.

Image credit: Erwin Fuguet Gedde

About David Cenciotti

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.