CARACAS: A pilot was killed on Sunday when a Russian-made fighter jet crashed in a mountainous area in northern Venezuela during practice exercises ahead of a parade to mark the country’s independence, President Nicolas Maduro said.

“I regret to inform that during the practice manoeuvres ... an aircraft of our Bolivarian Military Aviation fell to the ground, causing the physical loss of the distinguished pilot Col. Paulino Jose Millan Sabino,” the president wrote on Twitter.

The armed forces said in a statement that the plane “crashed to the ground” at around 09:45am (1345 GMT) on July 2 in the municipality of Guaicaipuro, in Miranda state, some 31 kilometres from Caracas.

The plane, a Sukhoi-30, had two crew members. Both managed to eject, but Sabino “died when he fell to the ground,” the armed forces added.

In the past week, military aircraft have flown over Caracas and other cities in practice manoeuvres to commemorate July 5, 1811, the date of the signing of the act declaring independence from Spain.

Venezuela and Russia, one of its main allies along with Iran, China and Turkiye, have signed military cooperation agreements since the government of the late Hugo Chavez (1999-2013).

Among military equipment purchases, Venezuela acquired 24 Sukhoi Su-30MK2 aircraft in 2006 to replace the French Dassault Mirage.

In September 2015, the two crew members of a Sukhoi-30 were killed when they crashed to the ground while trying to intercept an “illegal aircraft” in the south-eastern state of Apure, on the border with Colombia.

Two other military pilots were killed in October 2019 when another Sukhoi-30 crashed.

One of the deadliest accidents in Venezuelan military aviation occurred on May 3 2009, when a Russian-made MI-35 helicopter crashed to the ground, leaving 18 dead, 17 of them military personnel.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2023