Fighter jet crashes into two-story home in Irkutsk

A Su-30 multirole fighter jet crashed into a two-story home in Irkutsk, report government and emergency services in the region.

The plane landed on the wooden part of a home at 2 Sovietsky Lane. “It’s a private, 100-square-meter [around 1,000 square feet] home for two families,” said Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev on his Telegram channel. 

The Su-30 crashed during a test flight, the Ministry of Emergency Situations said. Both pilots were killed but “among locals no one was hurt,” said the governor. The Ministry of Emergency Situations specified that no one was in the home at the time of the crash.

The plane crashed during an acceptance flight, said Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation. It lost communications and crashed in the Novo-Lenino district of Irkutsk. According to emergency services, the crash started a fire with an area of 200 square meters (around 2,000 square feet), which was extinguished by 2:20pm Moscow time.

According to the Investigative Committee, the aircraft belonged to an aviation company and was performing a test without ammunition. A criminal case has been opened with charges of violating safety and air transport rules.

More than 150 homes in Irkutsk were left without electricity after the crash.

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The crash landing of a fighter jet in Irkutsk is the fourth similar incident in two weeks. On October 17, a Su-34 crashed in Yeysk, in the Krasnodar region, hitting a nine-story building and killing 15 people. On October 9, in two different parts of the Rostov region, a Su-24 and a Su-25 crashed. The crew ejected from the Su-24, and the pilot of the Su-25 died.