MOSCOW. June 15 (Interfax-AVN) - The main reason for an incident involving a Mikoyan MiG-31 jetfighter at the Khotilovo airfield in the Tver region on June 1 was a factory defect in the landing gear, commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force Vladimir Mikhailov told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday.
"An investigation into the incident involving a MiG-31 aircraft has been completed. It showed that elements of a landing gear leg broke during the landing. The destruction was caused by factory defects," Mikhailov said.
"The actions by the crew and the flight control officer were qualified as skilled and appropriate," he said.
The accident occurred while the plane was landing at Khotilovo at 0:45 a.m. Moscow time on June 1 (2045 GMT on May 31).
After the plane touched the runway, the left landing gear leg fell apart at a speed of about 280 kmph, which caused the plane to make a ground loop to the left followed by the destruction of the right landing gear leg, after which the plane's fuel system was damaged and the plane flared up. The flight control officer on duty noticed the sparking under the plane on time and ordered the crew to eject.
The crewmembers received minor injuries. The incident did not cause damage on the ground.