Then something went wrong, and the plane plummeted to the ground just over the horizon, sending a big ball of smoke into the air.
Both pilots of the two-seater SU-27 fighter jet, which was performing at an air show in central Poland today, were killed.
Flying high: The Su-27 jet, pictured just minutes before it had an accident during the annual Air Show in Radom, central Poland
Within minutes of the fly-by the SU-27 crashed. Luckily the plane crashed away from the crowds
The crowd looks on in horror as the smoke fills the sky
The jet was performing maneuvers at the festival in Radom, 65 miles south of Warsaw, when it went down this afternoon.The two Belarusian pilots on board were killed, said the air show's organisers said in a statement. Luckily the Su-27 was not near the tarmac or crowds attending the air show when it crashed.
Experts are now investigating the cause of the accident.
Footage broadcast on state television showed the plane turning in the air, then dropping behind trees.
A cloud of black smoke then appeared on the horizon.
Earlier this month, two SU-27s crashed during training in Moscow.
A pilot was killed and at least one civilian was injured when the two jet fighters from an elite Russian aerobatic group crashed while training outside Moscow.
Officials closed off the scene of the crash and begin an investigation
Tragic: The two pilots can be seen in the SU-27 before it took off
Sadly, both men were killed in the incident, which sent a big cloud into the sky
Two planes crashed into each other during a demonstration in front of 30,000 spectators at Radom in 2007.The planes hit each other at right-angles, effectively destroying each other, and killing both pilots.