On April 26, a MiG-31 fighter plane crashed in the Murmansk region. At first, the media and Telegram channels reported this, and later the information was confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“The plane crashed in a deserted place. Both pilots were launched, the ministry said. Ministry officials stated that the accident occurred during a planned training flight.
The warrior fell into the lake near the village of Rizh-Guba, 10 km from the city of Monchegorsk. The accident was viewed by the locals. The footage shows the MiG-31 flying over hills and dwellings, with an unusually large beam of flame emanating from the nozzle. After a few seconds, the aircraft clearly loses control, enters a tailspin and crashes.
“We are on a hill and I visually saw their white parachutes over the trees in the distance – we have small mountains and a forest there. A helicopter flies around, searching. It will not be easy to get to the trees there – the snow here is still up to your waist, ”said one of the eyewitnesses of the plane crash.
Rescue services were immediately sent to search for the crew. The press reported that the ejected pilots were caught in tree branches during landing. TASS reported that both pilots were hospitalized in serious condition. But the governor of the Murmansk region, Andrey Chibis, later denied this information.
“Pilots were found, examined by doctors. Nothing threatens their life and health. Fortunately, there was no need for hospitalization,” said the regional president.
According to Chibis, the pilots are heroes for being able to steer the crashed plane away from residential buildings. He stressed that the incident did not cause any damage to the ground.
Photos of the MiG-31 crash site, taken by local residents, show the plane flying through a large ice hole in a frozen reservoir. The cracks are separated from each other around the polynya and there are many fragments.
This fighter jet crash in the Murmansk region was at least the tenth known incident to occur on Ministry of Defense aircraft since the end of February last year.
The last incident occurred on February 23, 2023 in the Belgorod region – there, in the urban district of Voluysky, 30 km from the border with the Kharkov region of Ukraine, a Su-25 attack aircraft crashed. The plane was returning from a combat mission, the pilot was ejected but died. The Ministry of Defense described the preliminary cause of the accident as a technical malfunction.
The MiG-31 last crashed in the Leningrad region on April 8 last year. The pilots then performed a training flight. The crew also managed to launch and survived.
In terms of the number of victims and destruction, the biggest air accident that occurred with a military plane in recent months occurred in Yeysk on October 17, 2022. A few minutes after takeoff, the Su-34 fighter-bomber crashed on a nine-story residential building.
The pilots managed to eject, but spilled fuel caused a fire. As a result of the accident, 16 people died at home and 43 were injured. In the examination, it was determined that the engine of the plane caught fire after being hit by a bird.