During a training flight in the Astrakhan region, a MiG-29 fighter jet crashed.
Around midnight on August 18, on the territory of the Astrakhan region, during a training flight, a MiG-29 fighter jet of the Russian Aerospace Forces unexpectedly crashed.
Initially, the Russian press said that the fate of the pilot on the plane was unknown. However, in an official announcement later, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the pilot had died.
It is known that the MiG-29 fighter of the Russian Aerospace Forces has continuously participated in training flights, but in the next round of flights, it abruptly disappeared from the radar, and the flight management staff were lost contact with the pilot.
Sources claim that prior to the loss of contact, the pilot did not report any problems or technical problems, which could indicate that the problem occurred suddenly.
Sources in the Russian Defense Ministry said the fighter jet crashed far from populated areas, while the pilot did not have time to eject, in addition, it was suggested that pilot error could be the cause. caused the accident.
However, there are still no details about this, this is the third Russian plane lost in just a week and 4th plane lost in 20 days. Before the accident with the MiG-29, 2 days ago, an IL-112V light military transport aircraft crashed while training in preparation for the demonstrations at the Army-2021 Exhibition. On August 14, 2021, a Be-200 seaplane of the Russian Navy crashed while participating in fighting fires in forest fires in Turkey, 5 Russian pilots and 3 local experts were killed. life when the plane crashed into the mountain.
It is not clear which variant of the crashed MiG-29, but currently Russia is prioritizing the use of the MiG-29SMT version. This is a comprehensive upgrade version that gives this aircraft superior combat power.
Launched in 1998, the MiG-29SMT differs from the regular MiG-29 in that the aircraft’s “spine” has been stretched longer to accommodate more fuel. This has caused the aircraft to have a combat radius extended to 1,550km. In addition, the MiG-29SMT was also upgraded to a new airframe, helping to equip more modern avionics systems.