<P> More than 10,000 spectators attended the Saturday air show, staged to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Ukrainian Air Force's 14th Air Corps . At 12: 52pm, the Su - 27 aircraft--flown by two experienced pilots--entered a rolling maneuver with a downward trajectory at low altitude; having rolled upright once more the aircraft was still descending rapidly and the left wing dropped shortly before the aircraft hit the ground, at which point the crew initiated ejection . The aircraft flattened out initially, skidding over the ground towards stationary aircraft, striking a glancing blow against the nose of an Ilyushin Il - 76 transport aircraft before beginning to explode and cartwheel into the crowd of spectators . </P> <P> Both pilots survived with minor injuries, while 77 spectators were killed, including 28 children (though initial reports by the Emergency Situations Ministry put the number of dead at 83, including 23 children). Another 100 were hospitalized for head injuries, burns, and bone fractures . Other injuries were less severe and did not require hospitalization: a total of 543 people were injured during the accident . </P> <P> Following the disaster, the pilots stated that the flight map they had received differed from the actual layout . On the flight data recorder, one pilot asks, "And where are our spectators?" Others have suggested that the pilots were slow to react to automated warnings issued by the flight computer . </P> <P> Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma publicly blamed the military for the disaster and dismissed the head of the air force, Volodymyr Strelnykov . The defense minister, Volodymyr Shkidchenko, sent in his resignation, but it was rejected by Kuchma . </P>

Aerobatics display at the sknyliv airfield in the ukraine