A Su-34 aircraft crashed in the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia during a training flight, but both pilots survived. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, there was a problem with the landing gear during the approach, and the crew decided to eject to a safe area. A search and rescue team has already been dispatched to the scene to assist the pilots.
“Today at around 1:00 PM (Moscow time) in the Nizhny Novgorod region, a Su-34 aircraft crashed during a scheduled training flight. During the landing approach, a malfunction occurred in the deployment system of one of the landing gear struts. The crew made several attempts to rectify the malfunction in flight, but the situation did not change. On the command of the flight supervisor, the crew brought the aircraft to a safe area and ejected,” the agency reported.
A search and rescue team flew to the crash site to evacuate the crew to the base airfield. “According to information from the scene, both crew members are alive. The flight was conducted without ammunition. The aircraft crashed in a sparsely populated area. There is no damage on the ground,” the statement reads.
Other aircraft that have also encountered similar situations include the Su-25 attack aircraft that crashed in the Primorsky region and the Mi-28 helicopter that crashed in the Leningrad region. Both incidents also occurred during training flights.
All these cases show that aviation training always carries certain risks, but timely responses from the crews and quick reactions from search and rescue services can prevent tragic consequences.