Russian Su-24 Fencer Jet Crashes Near Hmeymim Airbase In Syria. Crew Killed.

October 10, 2017 Aviation Safety / Air Crashes, Russia, Troubled Areas
David Cenciotti

A Russian Fencer has crashed shortly after (or during) take-off from airbase near Latakia, in western Syria. Pilot and Nav killed in the accident.

A Russian Air Force Su-24M2, deployed to Syria, has crashed earlier today near Hmeymim air base, near Latakia.

According to the first reports, the aircraft skidded off runway during take-off; based on other reports, the aircraft caught fire shortly after take-off and crashed 1 km east of the village of Shrachir. Anwyay, the crew did not eject from the Fencer and died in the accident.

A technical malfunction could have been the root cause of the accident, that did no cause damage on the ground, the Russian MoD said.

This is the second Su-24 that the Russian Air Force has lost since the beginning of the air campaign over Syria. The first one was the Su-24 that was shot down by a Turkish Air Force F-16 on Nov. 24, 2015 after violating Turkey’s airspace for 17 seconds. Both the crew members managed to eject from the aircraft but whilst the navigator was rescued, the pilot was shot and killed by Syrian rebel ground fire while descending by parachute.

Other Russian jets lost during the air war on ISIS include the Russian Navy MiG-29K and Su-33 that respectively crashed on Nov. 14 and Dec. 5, 2016,  while attempting to land aboard the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier at its first combat cruise off Syria.

Image credit: Russian MoD

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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15 Comments

  1. D*ck move to shoot the defenseless pilot descending in a parachute. No professionalism, ragtag fighters, little more than savages.

    • The one who was responsible is a Turk that was fighting alongside Turkmen in Syria. Hardly a rebel but a mercenary. He’s also member of a radical Turk organization – the “ultranationalist” Grey Wolves (fascist in newspeak is ultranationalist). Last I heard was that he was sentenced to 5 years of prison in Turkey.

      https://twitter.com/celikalparslan

      • Will those Syrians and Russians that used Chemical Weapons on civilians be going to jail soon?

    • Yeah, apparently the west/us only arms and finances those guys. Lessons on the Geneva conventions and PoW treatment aren’t in the playbook.

    • I guess shooting at ground troops that have no AA defences is the pinnacle of civilisation then…

      It’s a war zone – you shoot at them, they shoot at you. Eventually someone dies.

    • CharleyA Maybe he was lucky to be shot..I mean the last time they caught a pilot, they put him in a cage, doused him with gasoline, and burned him alive. THAT is what animal behavior we’re dealing with concerning ISLAM. NO..wait, I apologize to all the animals..THEY would never do something like that, only ISLAMISTS !!!

  2. Sad to hear this, they are the real heroes that have been fighting against the evil that is affecting almost the whole world. Rest In Peace brave pilot Capt. Yuri Medvedkov and brave navigator Capt. Yuri Kopylov. You won’t be forgotten.

  3. Russia bad ! Uses chemical weapons ! Kills only civilians :(
    US good ! Uses smart bombs ! Kills only terrorists :)

  4. There is no reference to RuAF (I doubt you read it) using chemical weapons in the article that you have provided, anyone who is willing to reson clearly sees that: 1 there would not be any benefit from using chem weapon for Assad In this situation, Assad was winning by that time; 2 this is another staged chemical weapons attack, yes they might have get some substances to make it look real but still many things have Not been done so well, have you ever seen the crater of the bomb impact, did you those pictures that surfaced the media after the “attack”?..

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