ZHUKOVSKY, Moscow Region, August 16 (Itar-Tass) – Pilots Igor Tkachenko was killed and Igor Shpak who jettisoned from the crashed Su-27 fighters of the Russkie Vityazi (Russian Knights) group, and injuring at least five people on the ground.

The incident with the two fighters took place on Sunday above the Ramenskoye airfield where pilots train for the International Aerospace Show MAKS 2009 which will open on Tuesday. The aircraft crashed while changing a configuration of five planes from the Russkie Vityazi group over the Moskva River floodlands outside the air show grounds.

Chief of the public relations service of the Russian Air Force Vladimir Drik told Itar-Tass that “an aviation incident took place in the area of the Ramenskoye airfield on Sunday when planned flights were in progress: two Su-27 fighters crashed in mid-air”. “A commission of the Defence Ministry and the main headquarters of the Air Force was set up to scrutinise reasons for the air incident,” he noted.

Source: ITAR-TASS