The plane was lost at sea during a training flight off Kamchatka, Russia’s Pacific Fleet has said
FILE PHOTO: Russian Air Force MiG-31 supersonic. © Sputnik / Nina Padalko
A MiG-31 fighter jet crashed during a training flight in Russia’s Far East off Kamchatka, the country’s Pacific Fleet said in a statement. The aircraft was lost over the waters of Avacha Bay, with the fate of its crew currently unknown.
“The plane was carrying out the flight without ammunition,” the military noted.
The military has dispatched search and rescue teams to the crash area to search for the crew and debris of the aircraft.
The crash has become the second major accident this year involving an aircraft of this type. In April a MiG-31 crashed in Russia’s north, some 150 kilometers from the city of Murmansk. The jet fell in a deserted area, causing no injury or major damage on the ground, while its crew ejected to safety.
MiG-31 planes, known in NATO reporting system as Foxhound, are Russia’s primary long-range interceptors. Conceived in the 1970s, the plane has been repeatedly modernized, ultimately becoming the main carrier for Russia’s hypersonic air-launched Kinzhal missiles. Aircraft of the type have seen somewhat limited action in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, launching Kinzhals at top-priority targets.
