At approximately 0619 EST, eyewitnesses reported a large explosion and smoke at the Severnyy air base in Ivanovo, Russian Federation.
A Russian IL-76 has reportedly crashed after engine failure upon takeoff at Severnyy Air Base in Ivanovo, Russian Federation. pic.twitter.com/1lxtJyIJK5
— Tessaron News (@TessaronF) March 12, 2024
By 0645 EST, Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers claimed that the aircraft in question was an IL-76 strategic lift aircraft belonging to the Russian Federation.
By 0700 EST, Russian state-owned media had confirmed the crash stemmed from an engine failure and that at least 15 people were killed in the crash:
”The Il-76 military transport plane crashed during takeoff from the airfield in the Ivanovo region, the Ministry of Defense reported.
“There were eight crew members and seven passengers on board,” the department said.
The plane was supposed to perform a planned flight, the accident occurred around 13:00 Moscow time.
The cause of the crash was a fire in one of the engines.”
The Russian Aerospace Forces Main Command Commission reportedly departed for Ivanovo to begin the investigation.
These aircraft are extremely important to the Russian Federation as the war in Ukraine carries on. At the beginning of the conflict, the Russian military had access to about 100 airframes, although some were not registered for military use.
