A Russian military aircraft crashed and caught fire in western Russia on Friday, killing four people and injuring five others, according to local media reports.The IL-76 military transport plane crashed near the city of Ryazan after attempting an emergency landing due to an engine malfunction while on a training flight, Russia’s state-run news agency Interfax reported, citing the Russian defense ministry.
The plane “partially collapsed” as it attempted to land, the ministry said.
Russian MiG-29SMT jet fighters forming the symbol “Z” in support of Russian military action in Ukraine, fly over central Moscow during the general rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade on May 7, 2022 in Moscow, Russia. A Russian military aircraft crashed and caught fire in western Russia on Friday, killing at least four people.
Four people died and five were injured and taken to hospitals in Ryazan, local government officials said. Ryazan is located around 125 miles southeast of Moscow, the Russian capital.
The press service of the regional government initially said the victims were in a stable condition. However, Interfax reported that all the victims are currently in intensive care.
The defense ministry didn’t identify those who were killed in the crash.
There were conflicting reports about whether there were nine or 10 people on board the military plane. According to media reports the IL-76 was flying from Orenburg to Belgorod.
Local media outlet RZN reported that the plane crash occurred at around 4 a.m. local time, and that the aircraft crashed some 500 yards from residential buildings on the Mikhailovsky highway, tearing down power lines.
Power was cut to some residential areas following the crash, Russian media outlet Fontanka reported.
A RIA Novosti source said the aircraft’s fire extinguishing system did not work.
A video circulating on social media appears to show the aircraft wreckage on fire, and thick plumes of black smoke rising into the sky. Multiple emergency response vehicles were filmed at the scene.
The fire has since been put out and the area where the aircraft crashed cordoned off, TASS reported.
IL-76 military transport planes were first manufactured in the Soviet Union in the late 1960s.
