The Kazakhstan MoD reported the pilots were ordered to eject, but before they activated their seats, the crew managed to direct the MiG-31 away from settlement and steered their huge MiG-31 jet to a remote field.
Taken on Apr. 16, 2020 (apparently by people living in the vicinity of the crash site), the video in this post shows a MiG-31 (NATO reporting name: Foxhound) belonging to the Kazakhstan Air Defence Force (KADF) crashing just after takeoff. The aircraft took off from Karaganda air base for a scheduled training sortie when one of the engines caught fire.
The Kazakhstan MoD reported the pilots were ordered to eject, but before they activated their seats, the crew managed to direct the MiG-31 away from settlement and steered their huge MiG-31 jet to a remote field. Both pilots are alive and brought to a nearby hospital, their conditions are not reported.
The crew members, who are both experienced Lieutenant Colonels with 1,161 and 888 hours on the MiG-31, were taken to a local hospital. One of them is in a stable condition, while the other in a moderate condition.
Noteworthy this incident was the fourth crash for a KADF MiG-31 after those occurred in 2007, 2008 and 2013.
The MiG-31 was developed during 1970s by the Mikoyan design bureau as supersonic interceptor aircraft and was aimed to replace the earlier MiG-25 “Foxbat.” In fact the MiG-31 is based on, and shares design elements with the MiG-25.
The MiG-31 has the distinction of being one of the fastest combat jets in the world and continues to be operated by several air arms including the Russian Air and Space Force (RuASF).
Photo credit: kazinform and Dmitriy Pichugin via Wikipedia
