Russian military plane crashes, 11 dead

MOSCOW – A Russian heavy-lift military cargo plane crashed on take-off yesterday in Siberia, killing all 11 crew members on board, officials said.

The crash was the second accident in less than a month involving an Il-76 , the mainstay of the Soviet and Russian air force since the 1970s. These and a string of other accidents have raised concerns about the condition of Russia’s aging fleet of Soviet-built aircraft.The cause of yesterday’s crash was not yet known. The four-engine plane had just taken off from Mirny in the Sakha Republic when it banked to the right and was unable to gain altitude, said Vasily Panchenkov, a spokesman for the Interior Troops, which were flying the aircraft.The plane hit a slag heap from an old mine and crashed, exploding on impact, he said. The plane, which was headed to Irkutsk, was carrying no cargo but its fuel tanks were full.The Il-76 crashed about two kilometres from the runway in open fields. No one on the ground was reported hurt.The bodies of all 11 crew members were recovered, Panchenkov said.Flying conditions were good, with clear skies, light winds and temperatures of minus -11 Fahrenheit (minus 24 Celsius), he said.Federal investigators were on the scene and said they have recovered the aircraft’s flight recorders. State television showed the charred remains of the giant aircraft scattered across the snow.Russia’s air force had temporarily grounded all Il-76 aircraft after an engine broke off the wing of a plane on October 7 as the pilot engaged full throttle in preparation for take-off. No one was hurt in that accident.The ban was to have remained in place until experts could determine what caused the engine to break off and could check the fleet’s condition. No information was available yesterday from the Defence Ministry.- Nampa-AP