Three people died as a result of an accident with a Tu-22M3 aircraft at an airfield near Kaluga.

The journalists were informed about this in the Ministry of Defense.

The department clarified that the incident took place on the ground.

During the planned preparation for the flight in the plane, an abnormal operation of the ejection system occurred.

"Due to the insufficient height for the deployment of the parachutes, three crew members received injuries incompatible with life upon landing," TASS quotes a statement from the Ministry of Defense.

The agency, citing the regional security forces, notes that among the dead, according to preliminary data, there was a regiment commander who was sitting in the instructor's place.

Also, a TASS source reported one surviving crew member - he was taken to the infirmary in the medical unit in Shaikovka.

The Ministry of Defense added that a commission of the Russian Aerospace Forces went to the scene of the tragedy, which will check the technical condition of the Tu-22M3 and establish the reasons for the incident.

In turn, the unified dispatching service of the Kirovsky district of the Kaluga region clarified that local residents were not injured as a result of the accident.

On March 20, Tu-22M3 exercises took place in the region.

As reported, according to legend, the crews of the bombers had to withdraw the equipment from a sudden attack, and then, breaking through the defenses of the conditional enemy, imitate a retaliatory strike.

Tu-22M3 is a Soviet long-range supersonic bomber with a variable sweep wing.

It is designed to destroy sea and ground targets with supersonic guided missiles day and night, in any weather conditions.

Military aviation incidents in Russia

The previous crash with this aircraft, which led to the death of the crew, occurred in January 2019 in the Murmansk region.

Then the bomber fell into a snow charge during a training flight, after which it crashed.

“On January 22, 2019, in the Murmansk region, after a scheduled training flight, when hit by a snow charge, a Tu-22M3 aircraft made a hard landing.

As a result of a hard contact with the runway, the aircraft was destroyed, ”the Ministry of Defense reported. 

As a result of the crash, three crew members were killed: two at the time of the accident, another later died in the hospital.

Another man on board managed to survive - he was hospitalized in serious condition and later sent for treatment to Moscow.

  • RIA News

  • © Mikhail Voskresensky

Another incident with the Tu-22M3 occurred in December 2019 in the Astrakhan region.

The crew was on a scheduled flight when the aircraft had an engine failure.

“Thanks to the competent actions of the crew, it was possible to withdraw the car with the failed engine from the settlement and land on the ground,” the Ministry of Defense said.

The pilots were able to independently leave the board and were taken to the home airfield, none of them was injured.

After the incident, the Ministry of Defense announced its intention to present the pilots for state awards. 

In addition, at the same time, in December, a Su-57 fighter crashed in the Khabarovsk Territory.

The incident occurred more than 100 km from the Jomga airfield during a test flight. 

“The ejection system worked normally, the pilot ejected and survived.

The created commission will investigate the causes of the incident.

There are no casualties or destruction on the ground, ”RIA Novosti reported with reference to the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).

The administration of the Khabarovsk Territory reported that the pilot was found and taken by helicopter Mi-8 to Komsomolsk-on-Amur. 

On December 12 of the same year, in the Krasnodar Territory, near the Korenovsk airfield, a military helicopter Mi-28N, which belonged to the 55th separate Sevastopol Order of Kutuzov 2nd degree helicopter regiment, crashed.

Two crew members on board were killed.

The Ministry of Defense clarified that the helicopter crashed during a planned training flight in the dark in difficult meteorological conditions. 

The Main Military Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation stated that a criminal case was initiated into the crash under Art.

351 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of flight rules or preparation for them).

Sources in the military circles said that heavy fog, a technical malfunction of the vehicle or a human factor could have caused the crash.