Pilots of the Su-25UB crashed in the Stavropol Territory died. This was reported in the Ministry of Defense of Russia. The department said that the pilots did not have time to eject.

“The Commission of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, operating at the crash site of the Su-25UB aircraft in the Stavropol Territory, established the death of two pilots. The pilots did not have time to eject, ”the statement said.

The parachute fragments found at the site of the emergency relate to the aircraft, and not to the pilots, RIA Novosti reported, citing a source in law enforcement agencies.

At the crash site, "black boxes" were also discovered - an on-board recorder and a device for recording parameters. This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to a source of emergency services. It is noted that both devices are in satisfactory condition.

“According to preliminary data, the state of the on-board voice recorder and instrument for recording flight parameters is satisfactory,” the source said.

TASS, referring to a representative of military circles, reported on two possible reasons for what had happened that were being considered by the investigation - pilot error and technical malfunction. At the same time, according to the agency’s interlocutor in aviation circles, the Su-25UB was technically sound, and the weather conditions were good.

Earlier, TASS said that the military prosecutor's office of the Southern Military District began a check after the plane crash.

“The military prosecutor’s office is checking compliance with flight rules and preparing for them. Military prosecutors left for the place, there are no other data, ”a representative of the prosecutor’s office told TASS.

"Fell in a deserted area"

The Su-25UB crashed on Tuesday, September 3. The incident occurred in the Stavropol Territory - according to RIA Novosti, the accident occurred 38 km from the Budyonnovsk airfield. The Ministry of Defense reported that the plane performed a training flight without ammunition.

“The flight was carried out without ammunition. The plane crashed in a deserted area, there is no destruction on the ground, ”the statement said.

The Su-25 is a Russian attack aircraft, and the UB is its combat training twin version. According to a TASS source in the power structures of the Stavropol Territory, the plane worked off a dead loop, but the pilots could not get it out of the dive.

“The flights were carried out to practice aerobatics. When performing a dead loop, the pilots did not take the plane out of the dive and collided with the ground. The plane entered the earth to a depth of three meters, ”the source said.

According to TASS, the pilots flying the Su-25UB graduated from the Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots. One of them was released in 2003, the other in 2011, the agency’s source in military circles added.

"Rook"

A similar accident occurred in the Stavropol Territory at the end of February 2016. Then the Su-25 of the 368th assault air regiment of the Russian Air Force under the command of Major Alexander Kurikalov crashed during a training flight.

The pilot died during the bailout. Like the attack aircraft that crashed on September 3, Kurikalov’s plane was without ammunition and crashed in an uninhabited area.

A month later, another incident occurred with the aircraft of this model. The Su-25 of the 18th Normandy-Neman assault regiment of the Russian Air Force crashed while landing at the Chernigovka airfield in the Primorsky Territory. The plane destroyed the garage, shed and cellar of a local resident, but the pilot himself escaped - he managed to eject.

The Su-25 attack aircraft was developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau in the 1970s. He made his first flight in 1979, and a year later he received his baptism of fire during the Afghan war. At the height of the conflict, the aircraft was adopted by the USSR. Soviet pilots nicknamed the Su-25 "Rook", and the number of sorties during the Afghan campaign is about 60 thousand.

Attack aircraft are designed for relatively low speed, and therefore often become a target for enemy air defense. In this regard, the Su-25 has a significant margin of safety - during the test pilots planted cars with damage to the wing, fuel tanks, landing gear, glider and even one of the two engines. Subsequently, these aircraft were in service with many countries in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the CIS countries.

In total, about 1.3 thousand Su-25s were produced. Since 2000, according to open sources, there have been nine incidents with Russian attack aircraft, which killed five people. Another 15 aircraft and 10 pilots were lost during the fighting.