A Russian jet Su-24 crashed in the area of the Turkish-Syrian border, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday. “Su-24 of the Russian aviation group has crashed in the Syrian Arab Republic after alleged fire from the ground,” the statement reads. According to preliminary reports, the plane was gunned down from the ground.
The Su-24 bomber jet was in Syrian airspace at the altitude 6,000 meters, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The pilots parachuted out of the jet before it crashed.
“The fate of the pilots is still unknown,” said the statement. “According to the preliminary data, the pilots were able to eject. The circumstances of the plane’s crash are under investigation. The Russian Ministry of Defense notes that during the flight the plane was located strictly in the Syrian airspace. It was registered,” the statement reads.
The Sukhoi Su-24 “Fencer” is a supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft/interdictor developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft features a variable-sweep wing, twin-engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for its two-men crew. It was the first of the USSR’s aircraft to carry an integrated digital navigation/attack system.
In October, NATO announced it was removing its Patriot air defense system from Turkey, despite protests from the Turkish government that it is still at risk from the conflict in Syria. NATO installed the Patriot missile batteries in 2013 after Turkey, a NATO member, expressed concern that it was vulnerable to missile strikes from Syria. But the US insisted that the system required “critical modernization upgrades,” and began removing the equipment. That move came mere days after Turkey had complained that Russian fighter jets, recently deployed in Syria to support the government of Bashar al-Assad, repeatedly violated its airspace.