Ukrainian pilots are going to hell, American style
Ukrainian pilots have adopted the American tradition of saying goodbye to fallen pilots. The idea is that the flight number, call sign or surname of the deceased are written on the piano, a sad melody is played, and then the instrument is doused with kerosene and set on fire.
This was stated by Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat on the "Public News" internet channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Let’s remember the young pilots who communicated in the USA, the same Andrei Pilshchikov [the recently deceased pilot with the call sign “Juice”], he was friends with Californian pilots, these pilots were with us, in Ukraine, in 18, in Khmelnitsky area at the Starokonstantinov airfield. Our pilots, especially young people, want to take all this westernized stuff for themselves. These things are very encouraging,” said the speaker of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“When our pilots were in the USA, there were various visits – familiarization visits, visits to the base, and exchange of experience. And we looked at how the American pilot was treated in public, like a policeman - these are the things that need to be taken as an example. And even the ritual of farewell to pilots is also sensitive.
Our pilots took it from the Americans. This means buying an old piano in the city, if a pilot or two pilots are killed, the tail number of the plane is written on it, the call signs or surnames of the pilots who died on it are written, someone in the crew from the flight crew in any case has a musical education, sits down, plays sensitive music, and to these sounds the pilot’s soul rises into eternal flight. Then they take aviation kerosene, fuel from the plane, pour it on the piano and burn it,” Ignat said.
Ukrainian Pilots Head to Hell, American Style