Post by TC on Sept 16, 2005 19:37:27 GMT 2
From: Reuters From correspondents in Vilnius
September 16, 2005
A RUSSIAN Su-27 fighter crashed in Lithuania overnight after the pilot lost control and was forced to eject, officials said.
The Lithuanian Defence Ministry said the plane was flying between St Petersburg and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, which is cut off from the rest of Russia by Lithuanian and Polish territory, when it came down.
"For reasons that remain unclear this aircraft veered off its course while travelling over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea," the ministry said in a statement.
It said the plane did not have permission to enter Lithuanian air space.
"The pilot was unharmed and he managed to eject," it said.
He was taken to a police station in a nearby town for questioning.
The plane came down in Jurbarkas region, about 55 km from the Lithuanian town of Kaunas
--
The pilot survived
September 16, 2005
A RUSSIAN Su-27 fighter crashed in Lithuania overnight after the pilot lost control and was forced to eject, officials said.
The Lithuanian Defence Ministry said the plane was flying between St Petersburg and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, which is cut off from the rest of Russia by Lithuanian and Polish territory, when it came down.
"For reasons that remain unclear this aircraft veered off its course while travelling over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea," the ministry said in a statement.
It said the plane did not have permission to enter Lithuanian air space.
"The pilot was unharmed and he managed to eject," it said.
He was taken to a police station in a nearby town for questioning.
The plane came down in Jurbarkas region, about 55 km from the Lithuanian town of Kaunas
--
The pilot survived
