Kazakhstan military jet crashes during training flight

A Su-30SM fighter jet crashed during a scheduled training flight in Kazakhstan’s Karaganda region on 25 February, with both pilots ejecting safely, the defence ministry said.

Authorities said in a statement, the crew “ejected promptly” and that the pilots “are alive and well, and are under medical observation.”

It reported that the crash site had been sealed off and that “there is no threat to the public or infrastructure.”

Officials said that a special commission of the Ministry of Defence has been formed to investigate the incident, headed by the chief of the Flight Safety Department, including aviation service specialists.

The jet went down about 10 kilometres from Sary-Arka Airport in the Bukhar-Zhyrau district.

According to the statement, “a legal assessment will be made and a procedural decision will be taken” once the investigation is completed.

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Su-30SM fighter aircraft

The Su-30SM is a twin-engine, two-seat multirole fighter aircraft developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and manufactured in Russia.

It is an advanced variant of the Su-30 family and is used for a wide range of missions, including air-to-air combat, ground attack and reconnaissance, and can carry a mix of guided missiles, bombs and a 30 mm cannon.

The aircraft is highly manoeuvrable thanks to thrust-vectoring engines and modern avionics, and is operated by the air forces of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and others.

Previous Kazakhstan crash

A comparable event recorded on 16 April 2021, when another Su-30SM went down during its landing approach at the Balkhash aviation centre.

The pilots survived that incident too, and investigators pointed to a probable bird strike as the cause.

One incident occurred at the 1999 Paris Air Show, where a Su-30MK crashed and both pilots ejected safely.

Another case was recorded in 2020, when a Su-30M2 was struck by a Su-35S during air combat training, forcing its crew to eject.

Later in 2022, another Su-30SM crashed into a residential building in Irkutsk during a test flight, killing both pilots.

A further incident took place in 2023, when a Su-30 crashed during a training flight in the Kaliningrad region, Russia, killing two airmen.

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Kazakhstan Central Asia fighter jets Su-30SM Jet Crash