Three military pilots died in Russia on Tuesday when ejection seats of their Tu-22 strategic bomber malfunctioned, the Russian defence ministry said.

"An ejection system malfunctioned during a planned preparation on the ground for a Tu-22M3 flight at an airfield in the Kaluga region," the defence ministry said.

Three crew members received fatal injuries due to the "insufficient height to deploy parachutes," the defence ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

A state commission has been sent to the scene near the city of Kaluga some 190 kilometres (120 miles) southwest of the capital Moscow to inspect the bomber and look into the reasons of the accident.

A defence ministry spokeswoman declined to give further details when reached by AFP.

State news agency TASS quoted a source as saying that one crew member had survived.

Designed in the Soviet era, Tu-22M3 hypersonic strategic bombers were used by Russia in Syria, among other campaigns.

Accidents involving Russian civilian and warplanes are fairly common, usually caused by technical malfunction or human error.

Three people died when a Tu-22M bomber crashed in the northern Murmansk region in January, 2019.

Related Links
Aerospace News at SpaceMart.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Pentagon won't declare F-35 ready for full-rate production for months
Washington DC (UPI) Mar 18, 2021
The Pentagon is months away from declaring the F-35 ready for full-rate production, according to a defense official in charge of the program. And even when it's ready for production, it's unlikely jets will immediately begin Lot 15 production. Kyra Daley, director of strategic communications for the Pentagon's F-35 Joint Program Office, told Air Force Magazine officials expect an estimate on when full-rate production can be declared "in a couple of months." According to Daley, the ... read more