MOSCOW: A nuclear-capable supersonic bomber crashed while trying to land in a snowstorm in Russia’s far north on Tuesday, but the aircraft did not have any weapons on board.
Two of the Tupolev-22M3 plane’s four-man crew died in the crash and a third later died of his wounds in hospital. The fourth crew member survived.
The accident happened in Russia’s Murmansk region when the Soviet-era plane tried to land at an airbase near the city of Olenegorsk in a fierce snowstorm and amid high winds.
The plane broke up on the tarmac and caught fire.
The Russian defence ministry said it was investigating all possibilities, including a technical fault.
Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2019