MOSCOW – A MiG jet fighter crashed during a routine flight on Wednesday, apparently after a bird was sucked into an engine, but the two pilots ejected and survived, Russian news agencies reported.
The Mig-29UB crashed shortly after taking off from an airstrip in the Uran Mountains region of Perm, about 750 miles east of Moscow, the reports quoted Air Force spokesman Nikolai Drobyshevsky as saying.
Preliminary information indicated that an engine failed after a bird was sucked inside, Interfax quoted Drobyshevsky as saying. The pilots said a flock of birds rose up from the ground in front of the plane as it took off, according to the report.
Drobyshevsky said both pilots were in satisfactory condition after parachuting to safety, and there was no damage or injuries on the ground.
The plane had refueled at the Perm region airstrip during a flight from the Kubinka airfield near Moscow to the western Siberian city of Tyumen, RIA-Novosti reported.
A Yak-130 military training plane crashed Wednesday in Russia, but both its pilots also ejected and survived the accident.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox