A warplane which crashed at the Hmeimeem air base in the coastal province of Lattakia on Tuesday was in a situation “unfit for takeoff” because of pilot error or a technical failure, the Russian Kommersant newspaper reported, quoting a source close to the investigation.
The source said that the flight crew had been hoping the plane would take off until the last moment, but that it failed to gain the necessary speed. The newspaper said that analyzing the contents of the black box will allow them to determine more precisely the reason for the Su-24 bomber crashing.
Kommersant added that experts had confirmed that the technical state of the bomber was good, noting there were not doubts about the skill of the crew members.
According to the RIA Novosti agency, the pilots had been charged with carrying out a mission of bombing “command centers and ammunition stores” in Deir-ez-Zor.
On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that a Russian Su-24 bomber had crashed during takeoff on the runway of the Hmeimeem base, killing both its crew.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.