Pilot Ejected; Reportedly Okay

Russian Navy officials say they have no plans to raise the wreckage of an Su-33 that slid off the deck of the carrier Admiral Kuznetsov Monday. The pilot ejected safely and was recovered, but the aircraft will apparently spend eternity more than 3,000 feet below the surface of the North Atlantic.

The Su-33 was landing on the carrier during fleet exercises when it slid off the end of the flight deck, according to Russian news reports. The man in charge of Russian naval aviation, Lieutenant General Yury Antipov, is now on board the Admiral Kuznetsov and will personally lead the investigation, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

Initial reports blamed the aircraft's braking system for the mishap, although one source told Interfax the aircraft was in perfect working order when it departed the flight deck hours earlier.

Another source told the Russian newspaper Kommersant, "During planned flights on September 5th at 16:27, [the] Su-33, piloted by Sub Colonel Yuri Korneev was landing on the deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov. The aircraft was not armed. The jet hooked up [to the arresting cable] but [the] cable broke. The jet kept running on the deck. When the Su-33 was already falling off the deck, the flight controller on the aircraft carrier gave the pilot the command to [eject]. The plane fell in the water and sunk in the depth of about 1,000 meters. Korneev landed on the water with a parachute and opened the raft from his rescue pack. The training flights were stopped on the Admiral Kuznetsov. The rescue helicopter Ka-27PS took off from the deck of the aircraft carrier and brought the pilot onboard. The pilot was in a normal condition."

Russian naval officials said they were able to recover the plane's flight recorders, which floated to the surface after the mishap.

Kommersant quoted another source who pondered a much different problem: what to do with the wreckage.

"The Su-33 equipped with special devices that are considered state secrets, including recognition system," the source said. "According to [a] preliminary decision after finding the exact location of the Su-33, it will be bombed with depth charges. After that, deep submersible vehicle Tiger will go down and determine if the aircraft was damaged enough."

FMI: www.navy.ru/main-e.htm