Dramatic video shows Russian Tu-95 bomber exploding after left wing erupts in a ball of flame during take off

January 21, 2016 Aviation Safety / Air Crashes, Russia, Troubled Areas
David Cenciotti

A minute-long footage shows the Tu-95MS crashing during take off at Ukrainka airbase in Russia’s Far East.

As we reported last year, the Russian Ministry of Defense suspended all the Russian Air Force Tu-95 Bear flights after a strategic bomber suffered an incident in Russia’s Far East on Jun. 8, 2015: the +60-year old Russian four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform skidded off the runway and exploded after the left wing caught fire during the take off run at Ukrainka airfield.

As a consequence of the incident, the second involving a Bear in two years (followed, on Jul. 14, 2015 by another incident), two of the five-man aircrew were reportedly killed (only one casualty according to the first reports.)

Now, a video of the incident has been released. It shows the aircraft’s left wing catching fire during the take off roll, causing the aircraft to steer off runway and explode.

Along with the two Tu-95s, the last Summer’s Russian crashes include a Su-24 Fencer, two Mig-29 Fulcrums and a modern Su-34 Fullback.

H/T ‎Miguel Vargas-Caba‎ for the heads-up

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About David Cenciotti
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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.

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7 Comments

  2. Such a symbolic name of the airbase where this metal scrap had blown.. It is a bad-ass repercussion on invaders of Ukrainian Crimea and Donbas. it’s not over yet. There are so much more coming next. So, get ready, ivans-the-fools.. You were warned many times to avert from doing stupid things. Now boomerang is hitting back

    • Well ,not really, as that word”Ukraina” from “Okraina”means, like, the end of something, like end of a major area of Russia,which can be in just about any direction; for example, Kamchatka is also Okraina of Russia;or Northern part of Siberia etc etc
      However, the name for western half took hold,and even became the name of republic of USSR and now independent country.
      One should check carefully the origins of the name of this aircraft base.
      And what concerns” invasion of Ukrainian Crimea” it is ridiculous, 90% of people therr are ethnic Russians.
      Crimea was always Russia until 1954 when, illegally N.Hrushev,not asking anyone, signed it of to Ukrainian Soviet republic.There was no referendum.No law ever predicted that this is possible. Yet he did it.
      Millions of Russians through history lost their life defending Crimea from foreign invaders (British, French, Turkish, Germans) they are certainly not going to let NATO in…lol

    • really.. symbolic? symbolic is that they released this video and not trying to hide this is symbolic indeed.. read more history about Crimea it is never been Ukranian, nor Southern or Northern parts of Moldova that are called Ukraine at the moment, all thanks to mister Khrushchev and his ‘visionary ideas’.. this is a tragedy created out of social, intellectual you name it vacum that socialism brought to USSR.. So back to Crimea – speaking in your language yes the boomerang is hitting back but it has not been thrown by Russia alone and unfortunately many people of different nations are in its way back..

  3. If I was them, I’d be looking closely at the left two turboprop engines’ compressor section for missing blades. Slinging one through a fuel tank would be one way to get such an explosion.

  4. RIP to the airmen who died. The TU-95 is still a magnificent beast after all those years.

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