Russian military plane crashes, no causalities

A Russian military airplane on Saturday crashed in southwest Russia but there were no casualties reported.

Quoting Russian Defence Ministry, Xinhua reported that during a training flight, a YAK-130 combat trainer plane crashed on Saturday near the Borisoglebsk airfield in the Voronezh region, southwest Russia.

The Interfax news agency quoted a knowledgeable source as saying that an engine failure may have caused the crash.

The crew steered the plane away from nearby buildings before being catapulted, a ministry statement said, adding that both pilots contacted the command immediately after landing.

A search and rescue team has been sent to help the crew, and a flight safety commission of the Russian armed forces is also starting an on-site investigation into the incident, the statement added.

The YAK-130 is a subsonic two-seat advanced trainer aircraft originally developed by Yakovlev and Aermacchi in the early 1990s. It has also been marketed as a potential light attack aircraft. Development of the plane began in 1991 and the maiden flight was conducted on 25 April 1996. In 2002, it won a Russian government tender for training aircraft and in 2009 the aircraft entered service with the Russian Air Force.