Pilot Ejected Safely During Flight Test Sortie

An Su-57 "Felon" belonging to Sukhoi went down in Russia earlier this week, resulting in the total loss of the airplane. The pilot was able to eject safely and was recovered by an Mi-8 search and rescue helicopter, according to a report appearing on The Drive.

The plane was on a training sortie when it went down about 68 miles from the  Komsomolsk-on-Amur aircraft plant in Russia's far east.

This is the first time an Su-57 has been a total loss. In 2014, a prototype T-50 suffered severe damage due to an engine fire.

The Russian news agency TASS reports that the accident is being blamed on a failure of the flight control system. One source said it had something to do with the airplane's tale.

According to Interfax, the Su-57 that went down was the first production example of the type, and it was slated for delivery to the Russian Air Force by the end of the year.

Only about a dozenT-50/Su-57s  have been delivered since the airplane first flew about 10 years ago. Orders have been fairly thin, but last May, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced it would buy 76 of the fighters.

(Image from YouTube video posted by Military Forces XXI Century)

FMI: Source report