Su-27 crashes in training flight at Vladivostok
Multipurpose fighter the Sukhoi Su-27 (Flanker) crashed near Vladivostok during a training flight. “According to preliminary data, the Su-27 crashed due to failure of one of the onboard systems”, said a source at the Russian Defense Ministry. The pilot managed to eject and landed successfully. The fighter crashed outside the village. There are no casualties or destruction on the ground there.
The military investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation on the Ussuri garrison, in accordance with the requirements of Article 144 and 145 of the RF Criminal Code, has started an investigation into the fall of the Su-27 military aircraft that occurred on April 6, about 10 hours 22 minutes MSK, near the village of Solovey Klyuch in Primorsky Krai.
Currently, one group of military investigators is inspecting the scene of the accident; the other is engaged in the withdrawal of the pre-flight documentation. The pilot, who is hospitalized in a military hospital, stationed in Vladivostok, will be interrogated later. An adequate procedural decision will be made in accordance with the findings.
It would take Russian investigators at least a month to establish the cause of an accident with a Su-27SM Flanker fighter jet that crashed in Russia’s Far East on Wednesday, a military source said.
The jet crashed during the landing at an airbase near Vladivostok after a routine training flight. The pilot ejected successfully and was hospitalized with minor injuries.”Judging by experience, investigators work on such cases for at least a month,” the source in the Defense Ministry said. “Experts will have to question the pilot, the technicians and eye- witnesses.”
Other military sources said Wednesday that said that the crash might have been caused by a technical failure, including engine failure. The Russian Air Force has suspended Su-27SM flights until the end of the investigation. Russia lost several Su-27s due to technical failures and pilot errors in the past few years. The Su-27 is a Mach-2 class air-superiority aircraft designed as a direct competitor for the heavy fourth generation Western fighters, such as the F-15 Eagle.
About 450 Su-27 aircraft have been built for the Russian Air Force since 1984, and over 200 jets have been exported to other countries, including China, Indonesia, Angola and some ex-Soviet states.
