MOSCOW, December 14 (RIA Novosti) – Two Russian Air Force crew members ejected to safety when their MiG-31 interceptor crashed on Saturday in the Far Eastern Primorye region, local authorities said.
The aircraft went down 26 kilometers from the Tsentralnaya Uglovaya airbase near Vladivostok, after taking off at 5:07 a.m. Moscow time from the Knevichy airfield.
No-one on the ground was hurt.
The Defense Ministry later said the aircraft had suffered a failure of one of its two engines before the crash. The aircraft had just been overhauled, according to one source.
The MiG-31 is the fastest aircraft in operational service in the world. The Russian Air Force’s fleet of MiG-31s is currently in the midst of an upgrade to MiG-31BM standard.
A MiG-31 of the Kazakhstan Air Force crashed in April this year, killing the pilot and injuring the navigator, the service said at that time.
MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Air Force has grounded all MiG-31 Foxhound interceptor jets while investigators establish the cause of a crash of one of the planes, RIA Novosti has learned.
The temporary suspension was imposed after a MiG-31 crashed near the Tsentralnaya Uglovaya airbase outside Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East on Saturday, an Air Force source said. The two-man crew guided the aircraft to a deserted area before ejecting to safety and they were released from hospital Monday.
Investigators are examining the maintenance record of the plane, which they said crashed while on its first qualifying flight after a major overhaul. The Defense Ministry announced that one of the MiG-31’s two engines failed just before the accident.
A MiG-31 crashed in Kazakhstan in April, killing its pilot and injuring its navigator, four months after it had been overhauled. Kazakhstan, the only other country to use the MiG-31, temporarily suspended flights following the crash.
The MiG-31 is the fastest fighter-interceptor in operation with any air force in the world and is designed to rapidly intercept aircraft or cruise missiles violating Russian airspace. The Russian Air Force has 122 in service.
A modernization program was launched in 2011 to give the 30-year-old jet new radar, avionics, cockpit displays and a firing control system that can track ten targets simultaneously. Sixty of the upgraded models, designated the MiG-31BM, are to be delivered by 2020 under a tender with the United Aircraft Corporation.
Russia announced in September 2012 that a MiG-31 squadron would be stationed on the Arctic island of Novaya Zemlya as part of a nationwide air defense system. The Air Force said in August that it plans to keep MiG-31s in service until at least 2028.
The Russian government issued a report on Saturday calling for increased aviation safety. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev noted at a Cabinet meeting this month that the government had failed to meet aviation safety targets.
The Russian new defence minister investigated personnaly the Rogachevo air base, Novaya Zemya concerning basing fighters on base. He rejected further plans according new basing. It should cost to much to upgrade the base infrastructure for fighters. The Russian Border Troops use the base with An-26 and Mi-8 today.
MiG-31 left base at Kotlas-Savvatia some months ago. They are now based at Monchegorsk air base (Kola peninsula) and Khotilovo air base (north of Moscow). Earlier discussions of use Olenogorsk air base unsure.
The heavy MiG-31 need concrete runways, due to heavy pressure.
CAUSE OF THE CRASH OF THE MIG-31 IN PRIMORYE COULD BE THE HUMAN FACTOR
Accident fighter-interceptor MiG-31 that crashed in the Primorsky Territory on Saturday, could have occurred due to the fault of the crew, "Interfax" on Wednesday, a source close to the commission investigating the accident flight. "Based on objective control materials that have already succeeded in examine claims to work aircraft is not observed. The commission and law enforcement agencies have any questions to the actions of the pilots. Now the analysis of the crew when the flight test "- a spokesman said. Earlier among the causes of the disaster called engine failure and problems in the energy supply system aircraft. Upon incident prosecuted for the crime under Art. 351 of the Criminal Code (violation of the rules of safety and training for them).
