MiG-23 crashed at the Michigan Airshow

The pilot of a Russian-made fighter jet that crashed earlier that month during the Thunder Over Michigan air show in Belleville tried to land the plane while a back-seat passenger admitted to investigators that he likely pulled the ejection handles for both of them, a preliminary investigation has found. . .

Moments before the plane hit the ground during the Yankee Air Museum's annual event, the pilot and backseat passenger racing against the clock in the falling plane had different ideas about what to do, the report says.

But as soon as they ejected, escaped the plane and parachuted back to the ground, the plane's fate was sealed.

A recent National Transportation Safety Board report provided more details about what happened in the Aug. 13 crash but did not determine why the MiG-23 lost power before the crash. He also did not conclude whether the pilot could have landed the plane safely or whether a passenger in the back seat saved their lives.