MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax-AVN) - The pilot of a SU-27 Flanker plane that crashed in the Far East "acted correctly," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has said.
"When both the plane's main and reserve control equipment failed, the pilot decided to eject himself, which he reported to the flight control service," he said. "The pilot did everything correctly and followed all flight instructions," Ivanov told reporters on Tuesday.
A commission of the Defense Ministry has left for the scene of the crash to investigate reasons behind the incident, he said.
The SU-27 was piloted by Captain Alexander Tsvetkov. He was performing a training flight. The plane crashed 40km north of Vladivostok. The pilot ejected himself and survived.