A Russian military transport plane with 15 people on board crashed Tuesday, March 12, and it’s unclear if there were any survivors.
According to the Russian defense ministry, the crash took place while the plane took off from an air base in western Russia, Knewz.com has learned.
The defense ministry reported that the plane, an II-76 aircraft, had eight crew members and seven passengers on board when it crashed in the Ivanovo region, according to The Associated Press.
Ivanovo Gov. Stanislav Voskresensky offered condolences to the victims’ families, while also noting that there was no damage on the ground.
The defense ministry believes an engine caught on fire during takeoff, causing the crash. Investigators from Ivanovo went to the scene.
Video from a Russian media broadcast showed the plane going down while one engine appeared to be ablaze.
The four-engine II-76 heavy-lift plane has been used by the Russians since the 1970s with the Soviet and then Russian air force.
The crash comes less than a week after a Ukrainian fighter jet was shot down by a Russian “axehead” missile.
As Knewz.com reported on Wednesday, March 13, the incident was caught on camera, showing it exploding in mid-air.
The MiG-29 was fleeing a Russian Su-35S fighter jet when it was struck by a long-distance Vympel R-37 air-to-air missile, exploding into a fireball before falling to the ground.
The axehead missiles have proven to be one of the core advantages the Russian military holds over Ukraine, and it has been described as a “terror” to Kyiv’s air force.
According to photographs published by The Sun, as the fighter jet falls to the ground, it leaves a long trail of black smoke.
The pilot was Andriy Tkachenko, and he died in the firefight. He is the father of Major Andrey Tkachenko.
The fight took place on Friday, March 8 in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, and The Sun reported that Tkachenko had been flying fighter jets in the region since 2014, when Russian forces first began their military activity in the region.
The R-37 is a long-range hypersonic air-to-air missile that is designed to sink tankers and shoot down aircraft.
Its distinct advantage over Ukrainian aircraft usually results in pilots taking extreme evasive moves that require them to eject from the plane. A direct hit like the one on Friday is an uncommon occurrence.
However, Ukraine’s inability to do anything but eject from the aircraft is why Kyiv is so anxious to get its hands on F-16 fighter jets, which can effectively dodge the missiles.
The Pentagon said Ukraine should be trained to use F-16s on the battlefield by the end of 2024.
The post Russian Military Plane Crashes With 15 Passengers and Crew Onboard; Survivor Status Unknown appeared first on Knewz.
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Author: David Wetzel
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