Moscow: A Russian warplane crashed off the coast of Syria on Monday, the second plane in less than a month to plunge into the Mediterranean Sea while attempting to land on Russia’s Soviet-era Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier.
The Russian Su-33 Flanker crashed after flying a combat mission, Russia’s Ministry of Defence announced on Monday, but the cause of the accident was a mechanical malfunction aboard the aircraft carrier.
“After carrying out its military activity in the skies over Syria, a Su-33 fighter fell off the deck of the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov on landing because a cable in the arresting gear snapped,” the ministry said in an official statement carried by the Interfax news agency.
The pilot ejected and was saved by a search-and-rescue team, the statement added. The pilot was not injured.
Last month, a Russian MiG-29K fighter jet crashed while attempting to make an emergency landing on the aircraft carrier shortly after take-off.
The Admiral Kuznetsov, launched in 1985, has a history of on-board accidents during training missions. The Syrian conflict is its first combat deployment. Unlike other modern aircraft carriers, it does not have a catapult system, and the jets it carries must launch off a ramp, limiting the load of fuel and weapons that they can carry.
