FIFTH SECTION        CASE OF MIKHNO v. UKRAINE (Application no. 32514/12)        JUDGMENT  STRASBOURG 1 September 2016  FINAL 30/01/2017 This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision.In the case of Mikhno v. Ukraine,The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of: Angelika Nußberger, President, Ganna Yudkivska, Khanlar Hajiyev, Erik Møse, André Potocki, Yonko Grozev, Carlo Ranzoni, judges,and Milan Blaško, Deputy Section Registrar,Having deliberated in private on 5 July 2016,Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:PROCEDURE1. The case originated in an application (no. 32514/12) against Ukraine lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by two Ukrainian nationals, Mrs Nina Vasylivna Mikhno and Miss Anastasiya Sergiyivna Mikhno, (“the applicants”), on 30 August 2006.2. The applicants were represented by Mr D.A. Gudyma and Ms S.V. Khyliuk, lawyers practising in Lviv. The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agents, most recently, Ms O. Davydchuk.3. The applicants alleged, in particular, that the State authorities had been responsible for the deaths of their relatives, Sergiy and Tetiana Mikhno, and had failed to conduct an effective investigation of the relevant circumstances; that the courts dealing with their claim for damages lacked independence and impartiality, that the relevant proceedings had been inordinately lengthy and that there were no effective remedies for the length of proceedings complaint.4. On 4 September 2012 the application was communicated to the Government.THE FACTSI. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE5. The first applicant was born in 1940. She is the paternal grandmother of the second applicant, who was born in 1997. As of the time when the application was lodged, the first applicant was also the second applicant’s legal guardian. The applicants live in Lviv.A. The crash of a military aircraft during an air show at the Sknyliv aerodrome on 27 July 2002 and the deaths of Sergiy and Tetiana Mikhno6. On 27 July 2002 the Air Force of Ukraine organised a military aviation show in the “Sknyliv” aerodrome in Lviv (“the Sknyliv air show”) to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the 14th Air Force Corps. The celebration agenda included a static display of military aircraft and other equipment, and a live aerobatics show by military pilots.7. The event was attended by several thousand individuals, including the second applicant, aged five at the time, accompanied by Sergiy Mikhno, her father and the first applicant’s son, and Tetiana Mikhno, her mother and the first applicant’s daughter-in-law.8. During the aerobatics performance, an SU-27 military aircraft piloted by Colonels V.T. and Y.Y. crashed into the static aircraft display site where there were numerous spectators, where it exploded. Both pilots had successfully ejected before the explosion. As a result of the crash, seventy‑seven people died and over 290 sustained injuries.9. Both Sergiy and Tetiana Mikhno, who were in the epicentre of the accident, died at the scene from numerous fractures and severe cerebral trauma.10. At the moment of the crash the second applicant was in the cabin of an IL-76 airplane on static display, posing for a photograph and waving her hand to her parents. She witnessed her parents being crushed by the aircraft, but did not sustain any physical injuries herself. Subsequently, she underwent psychological rehabilitation programmes intended to help her recover from her emotional trauma.B. Investigation of the circumstances of the Sknyliv air show accident11. On various dates several concurrent investigations were opened to establish the circumstances of the accident, including investigation by a special Government Commission set up for this purpose, the Ministry of Defence, the Lviv City Council, the Prosecutor’s Office, and Sknyliv Tragedy, a non-governmental organisation founded by survivors of the accident and those who had lost relatives at the air show.1. Investigation by the Special Government Commission12. On 27 July 2002 the President of Ukraine set up a special Commission (the Government Commission for the investigation of the causes of the catastrophe of the military aircraft of the Air Force of Ukraine; “the Special Commission”) with a specific mandate to investigate the circumstances of the accident and coordinate assistance to its victims. The Commission was chaired by the President of the National Security and Defence Council. Other members of the Commission included senior officials from the Ministries of Emergencies, Transport, Finances, Health, Interior and Social Protection, officers of the Security Service of Ukraine, the General Headquarters of the Armed Forces, the State Aviation Transport Department, and the Lviv Regional State Administration. The Commission also engaged several experts from the “Sukhoy” construction bureau (the SU-27 aircraft manufacturer, Russia) and two test pilots from the Russian Federation as aviation experts.13. Following the investigation, which included inspecting the accident site, interviewing individuals involved in the organisation of the air show and examining the relevant documents, as well as deciphering data from the flight data recorders, on an unspecified date in 2002 the Special Commission reported on the facts as follows.14. In June 2002 Colonel-General V.S. (the Air Force Commander‑in‑Chief) authorised the aerobatics show at the request of Lieutenant-General S.O. (the 14th Corps Commander). The Air Force Headquarters appointed a mixed team of officers from different units, including Colonel V.T., from Kirovske, Crimea as the first pilot; Colonel Y.Y., of the Air Force Headquarters, stationed in Vinnytsia, as the second pilot; and Lieutenant-Colonel Y.Ya., stationed in Mirgorod, as the aerobatic performance director. Lieutenant-General A.T. and Major-General A.L., both stationed locally in Lviv with the 14th Corps Command, were also designated to join the mission, one as “air show flights director” and the other as “chief safety officer”.15. On 24 July 2002 V.T., Y.Y. and Y.Ya. carried out their only training flight as a team. On the orders of the Air Force Headquarters, the flight took place at a military aerodrome in Ozerne, near Zhitomir. According to the Special Commission, that flight could not qualify as a rehearsal for the performance at the air show, as it included a different sequence of manoeuvres; its purpose was rather to improve and practise piloting techniques. The Commission also established that V.T. had requested an additional training flight in Ozerne and that his request had been turned down by the command, citing a shortage of fuel. Although the air show preparation programme included an on-site rehearsal flight on 26 July 2002, the 14th Corps Commander decided to cancel it for the same reason. The pilots were not formally apprised of the boundaries of the aerobatics zone or the placement of spectators.16. Before the show, the pilots were provided with a different aircraft from the one in which they had carried out their training flight. There was a certain asynchronism in the performance of the right and left engines of this aircraft. Overall, however, it was in an acceptable technical condition and remained fully operational until it crashed. The aircraft had been supplied with extra fuel in order to enable the pilots to return to Ozerne without landing at the site of the air show. The fact that the pilots had trained in a different aircraft and with less fuel had a negative impact on their readiness for performing aerobatic displays. For unspecified reasons, the pilots decided to take off without the mandatory anti-gravitation suits (“g-suits”). On arrival at the Sknyliv aerodrome, the pilots immediately started the performance, without taking any time to familiarise themselves with the site, which was new to them. During the performance, the aircraft exited the designated aerobatics zone, the boundary of which was some 150 metres from the spectators’ area. Neither A.T. nor Y.Ya., directing the flight from the ground, warned them of that fact or directed them to return to the designated zone. Still outside of the zone, V.T. decided to perform a certain aerobatic display (called “the trunk”), which he had never practised before and which was not included in his mission order. He made a technical mistake in its performance and, as the second pilot did not intervene when appropriate, the pilots lost control of the aircraft and it started falling. Subsequent efforts by the crew to regain altitude were futile.

Article of the Convention at issue: Article 2
Outcome: no_violation