Pilot killed after plane crashes into river at Polish airshow

The terrifying moment when a two-seat light aircraft crashed into a river after a stunt-gone-wrong at an airshow in the city of Płock in Poland was caught on camera.
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Yakovlev Yak-52 plane was attempting to perform a tailspin aerobatic maneuver when the tragedy occurred. It seemed all was going to plan as the Yak-52 was rotating in the air during its rapid descent.

But then something went wrong, with the pilot’s attempt to lift the aircraft up coming too late. The aircraft hit the water at high speed, instantly killing the man at the controls, a pilot described by the local media as “an experienced aviator from Germany.”

The Yak-52 is a Soviet-era, two-seat light aircraft, designed to train military and sports pilots. It was produced between 1978 and 1988 in the USSR and Romania. The agile plane is frequently used in aerobatic competitions.