MiG-31 fighter jet crashes in Central Russia, both pilots eject

A Russian MiG-31 fighter jet crashed on Wednesday in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Both pilots ejected successfully, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"On September 19, at about 03.30 pm Moscow time (12:30 GMT), a MiG-31 fighter jet of the Aviation Staff Training Centre crashed during a planned training flight at one of the military airfields in the Nizhny Novgorod region, both pilots successfully ejected," the ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, the pilots have been promptly evacuated by search-and rescue personnel, and their lives are not in danger.

"The aircraft carried out the mission without ammunition, the plane fell in an uninhabited area, there is no destruction on the ground," the ministry said. The preliminary data indicates that the cause of the accident was a technical malfunction, according to the statement.