Two crashes of Russia's Su-24 bombers in a week have prompted the nation's air force to ground the all aircraft of that line, Russia Today reported Friday (see GSN, March 20).
The first plane crashed Wednesday while attempting to land in the northwest Murmansk region, the second Friday while touching down in the southern region of Rostov. There were no casualties in either incident.
The second crash has been blamed on technical difficulties but remains under investigation.
The Su-24 has been a fixture of the Soviet and Russian air fleets since the 1970s. The planes that crashed last week were modern models of the bomber line, 12 of which have now crashed in the last 11 years, killing 10 (Russia Today, June 19).
The aircraft can carry nuclear weapons, but is generally not used for that mission, Agence France-Presse reported (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, June 19).