YEREVAN, 4 DECEMBER 2018 – Two crew members died when a Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jet crashed in western Armenia on Tuesday, December 4, the ex-Soviet Republic’s Defense Ministry said.
The wreckage of the jet “was found in the mountains near the town of Maralik” in Armenia’s western Shirak Region, the ministry spokesman Atrsrun Hovhannisyan said in a Facebook post.
“Two pilots, Lieutenant Colonel Armen Babayan and Major Movses Manukyan, were killed in the crash” Public Radio of Armenia reported.
The aircraft disappeared from radars on Tuesday morning, minutes after it took off for a routine training flight, the ministry had reported earlier.
The jet took off from Gyumri Airport on a planned training flight at 10:06 a.m. Communication was lost around 10:20 a.m., Public Radio of Armenia reported.
Under the agreement signed in 2010, Gyumri hosts a Russian military base which will be operated until 2044, Interfax reported.
Designed to provide close air support, the Sukhoi Su-25 is a single-seat twin-engine ground attack aircraft that entered series production in 1978. The Su-25UBK is a two-seat trainer version of the aircraft.
Source : Public Radio of Armenia | Aviation Safety Network
