Training aircraft crashed in Russia on 14 August, killing air base commander
An L-39 combat trainer aircraft crashed in Russia's Adyghe Republic [ a federal subject of the Russian Federation, located in Russia's Krasnodar Krai] on the evening of 14 August, killing Colonel Vadim Gurov, Commander of the Maykop training air base.
Source: Kremlin-aligned news agencies TASS and RBC, citing the Russian Defence Ministry; Russian Telegram-based news outlets
Quote from the Russian MoD: "An L-39 trainer aircraft belonging to the training aviation regiment crashed in Krasnodar Krai on 14 August 2023, during a scheduled training flight on approach to landing. The aircraft crashed within the airfield. There was no damage or casualties on the ground."
Details: "One of the crew members" was reportedly killed. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Meanwhile, the Baza Telegram channel reported that Vadim Gurov, Commanding Officer of the Maykop training air base, was killed in the accident.
The sources said the aircraft missed the runway, hit the ground and then collided with a short-range navigation tower. Colonel Gurov, who was on board, met his death on the spot.
Mikhail Lipatkin, a senior flight instructor at Akhtubinsk [a city in Russia’s Astrakhan Oblast] main flight test centre, was also on board. He was taken to a healthcare facility with injuries.
For reference: The L-39 Albatross is a Czechoslovak-made combat trainer aircraft developed in the late 1960s. It was adopted as the primary trainer aircraft of the Warsaw Pact signatory states in 1972. A total of 2,868 L-39s were built.
The L-39 is currently the primary training aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, as reported by RBC.
Background: Earlier, a training aircraft reportedly crashed at an airfield in Russia's Krasnodar Krai on the evening of 14 August, killing one of the crew members.
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