Belarus confirms Russian-made Yak-130 jet crashed

Isa Khan · May 19, 2021

The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus confirmed Wednesday morning local time that a Russian-made Yak-130 jet trainer has crashed.

Two pilots died when a training aircraft crashed outside the Baranovichi airport, Ministry of Defense officials say.

There were two pilots in the cockpit of the Yak-130 trainer. Immediately after takeoff from the airfield, they discovered a technical malfunction of the car and decided to take it away from the town.

“After making sure that the trajectory of the plane’s fall was outside the residential buildings, the pilots ejected. Unfortunately, both pilots were killed, ”the Defense Ministry said.

The cause of the plane crash is not immediately clear.

The Ministry of Defense also said that the flight commander of the training and combat squadron of the 116th Shab Major Andrei Nichiporchik and the pilot, Lieutenant Nikita Kukanenko were on the plane.

There are no other victims, according to the department.

The Yak-130 is a Russian-made, subsonic two-seat advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft originally developed by Yakovlev.

In December 2012, the Belarusian Defence Ministry signed a contract with Irkut for four Yak-130 combat trainers that were delivered in 2015. The Belarusian Air Force received four aircraft in 2016, while four more aircraft were delivered in May 2019.