Impressive images of a Syrian Su-24 attack plane shot down by anti-aircraft fire

A Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) Su-24 Fencer attack plane was shot down near Nahtah village.

On Jun. 11, a Syrian Su-24 Fencer was reportedly shot down near Nahtah in the southern county of Dara, Syria.

According to the Luftwaffe A.S. website, the aircraft, a Su-24M2 operating from T4 AB or Seen AB, was hit by 23mm Anti-aircraft artillery.

Although some eyewitnesses said the pilot successfully ejected (note: the crew is made of two members, a pilot and a weapons systems officer…), the footage we have seen so far doesn’t show any parachute in the vicinity of the aircraft, broken in at least two parts.

The Syrian Arab Air Force was believed to count on 20 Su-24 Fencer attack planes at the beginning of the uprising. The Su-24s have been involved in several air strikes and operations.

One SyAAF Su-24 was shot down by an Israeli Patriot SAM (surface-to-air missile) battery after it penetrated the airspace over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Sept. 23, 2014.

 Top image via @JosephHDempsey

 

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.