Foreign Affairs
Russian Plane Slides Right Off Deck Of Decrepit Aircraft Carrier
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A Russian jet slid off an aircraft carrier deck and into the sea off the coast of Syria Monday, after a critical landing cable snapped.
The incident is the second time in less than a month involving a crash and the aircraft carrier. The aircraft carrier was built in 1985 and has been historically beset by engineering malfunctions.
“After carrying out its military activity in the skies over Syria, a Su-33 fighter fell off the deck of the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov on landing because a cable in the arresting gear snapped,” Russia’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement. The defense ministry confirmed that the pilot survived the crash, after a search and rescue team fished him out of the sea.
Russian media previously reported Russia was forced to ground all aircraft on board, after a critical landing component failed on Nov. 14, sending a plane into the sea. Open-source satellite intelligence then confirmed Russia largely grounded its aircraft carrier fleet in the wake of the incident.
“We don’t think the Russians are flying as many sorties off their carrier as they would want the world to think,” a British intelligence officer told IHS Janes.
Russia deployed the Admiral Kuznetsov to Syria in late October to assist the ongoing air campaign to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s efforts. Russia and Syria are currently engaged in a relentless bombing campaign on the city of Aleppo, where hundreds of civilians have reportedly been killed in recent weeks.
The Kuznetsov’s plumbing is reportedly so bad, many toilets on board are unusable, and it is besieged by electrical problems.
“All their ships look shiny on the outside, but are pretty horrid on the inside. You only have to look at the smoke she’s belching out to see not all is well,” a British Naval officer told the Telegraph in October.
He elaborated, “We have had people on board Russian ships in the last 10 years or so and it’s always a bit of a shock. The conditions inside are pretty manky.”
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