KRASNODAR/MOSCOW. July 15 (Interfax-AVN) - A commission of the Defense Ministry's flight security service is studying two versions of the L-39 crash in the southern Russian Krasnodar territory.
The crash was caused by a technical breakdown or by a pilot's mistake, a source close to the commission told Interfax- Military News Agency on Tuesday.
"Speaking about the technical breakdown, experts do not rule out that a bird or some object got into the engine, which could cause the plane's fall. They are also studying whether the pilots made a mistake, because the plane fell down dramatically upon reaching the airfield's close altitude control during the final approach," the source said.
Two pilots of an L-39 trainer aircraft were killed when it crashed during training near Kushchyovskaya airfield, which belongs to the Krasnodar Air Force Institute.
The accident occurred at 8:55 p.m. Moscow time (1655 GMT) on Monday, killing Major Andrei Pilipchuk and Captain Roman Otkopnikov, Russian Air Force spokesman Colonel Alexander Drobyshevsky told Interfax.
The plane fell about one kilometer from the landing strip. It caused no destruction or casualties on the ground, he said.
A commission from the Russian Defense Ministry's air safety service is investigating the incident.
According to tentative results of the investigation, the accident happened after the pilots practiced instructor skills in an instrument flight. Approaching for landing, the plane suddenly dove, and the pilots decided to eject, which killed them, Drobyshevsky said.