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Su-27 Fighter Jet Crashes in Karelia | Defense | RIA Novosti

A Russian Air Force Sukhoi Su-27UB fighter jet crashed in the Petrozavodsk district of Russia's northeast Karelia Republic on Thursday morning, although the pilots ejected safely according to Russia's Defense Ministry.

The group of search and rescue helicopter Mi-8 was directed to the scene, picked up the pilots. Satisfactory state of health of pilots. The crew quickly brought to the hospital.

"The plane went down in the region of the village of Besovets, and a search is underway for the two crew," a local law enforcement source said.

The plane crashed in a forest at a distance of 3 km from the runway.


The crash may have been caused by a bird being ingested into one of the aircraft’s two AL-31 turbofan engines, a spokesman for the Western Military District told RIA Novosti.

“Also, it is possible one of the flight control systems failed,” the source said.

More precise preliminary information as to the cause of the incident is likely to be received in the next two days after an investigation, the source said.

The aircraft, which was on a routine weather check flight, was unarmed when it crashed, Defense Ministry Spokesman Colonel Igor Konashenkov said.

The Su-27UB is a two-seat conversion trainer variant of the Su-27 single-seat fighter aircraft.