MiG-31 supersonic interceptor crashed in the Nizhny Novgorod near the town of Kulebaki, on Wednesday.
Russian emergency services have already confirmed that the MiG-31 aircraft crashed in a marshy area near the village of Molochnaya Ferma and Kulebaki in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
“A MiG-31 interceptor crashed in the Nizhny Novgorod Region several minutes ago. The incident occurred near the town of Kulebaki,” the source said.
The regional emergencies ministry official confirmed that the plane crashed, causing no destruction. “No destruction on the ground occurred, because the plane fell in a forest area. Our personnel are working at the crash site,” the office said.
According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, the crew of the MiG-31 ejected themselves before the crash.
The MiG-31 or the Foxhound as it is called in the West is a veteran of Russia’s Aerospace Force.
According to the airforce-technology.com, approximately 500 MiG-31 aircraft have been produced, out of which 370 were delivered to the Russian Air Force and 30 are in service with Kazakhstan Air Force. The remaining aircraft were upgraded to different variants under several upgrade programmes. Only some of the Russian MiG fleet have been upgraded to MiG-31BM standards under the upgrade programme.
The MiG-31 can climb at a rate of 208m a second and has the capacity to fly at 3,000km/h. The ferry and combat ranges of the aircraft are 3,300km and 720km respectively. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is 46,200kg. The cruise range and wing loading capacities are 1,620m and 665kg/m² respectively, while the maximum g-load is 5g.