DefenseRussian fighter jet crashes in Urals

[Major Shaitan Singh]

A Russian Mikoyan MiG-31 fighter jet crashed in the Urals on Tuesday, killing both pilots, officials say.

The jet exploded in a fireball minutes after taking off from a military airport in the Perm region in the early hours of Tuesday.

It was on a routine training flight, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said.

A technical failure is being investigated as the possible cause of the crash, a source in the ministry told RIA Novosti.

A similar jet crashed in the region last year, but the pilots managed to parachute to safety.

All MiG-31s have been grounded following the accident.

The Defense Ministry said the ban would remain in place until the cause of the disaster had been established.

 

[Desert Fox]

You never hear about such incidents in the USAF in recent times, Russian aircraft lack in quality i guess.

 

[DelhiDareDevil]

You never hear about such incidents in the USAF in recent times, Russian aircraft lack in quality i guess.

But USA planes are always grounded half of the time.

 

[Desert Fox]

But USA planes are always grounded half of the time.

Well, in case of USAF they find the problem before the problem finds them, better to be grounded than to become a fireball in mid air and end up losing 2 pilots as in this case with the Russians.

 

[Vibs]

Wow..exploded in a fireball after takeoff?? That's serious and to be honest unheard of!!

 

[nForce]

You never hear about such incidents in the USAF in recent times, Russian aircraft lack in quality i guess.

USAF has an accident rate of 4-5/100,000 hours of flight for it mainstream fighter jets,not much different from the current Russian AF.

 

[amalakas]

ahhh.. weren't the F-22's grounded for like 4 months ..and still almost are... ??? what are you talking about