Russia’s Sukhoi T-50 5th generation fighter aborted the takeoff at the MAKS-2011 International Aviation and Space Show on Sunday.
Earlier reports said that the fighter had made an emergency landing due to technical glitches. The pilot is alive.
“The T-50 fighter aborted not the flight but the takeoff from the Zhukovsky airfield,” a spokesman for MAKS-2011 told RIA Novosti.
A flash was seen during the fighter’s takeoff, after that the aircraft landed with a parachute, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.
A senior aviation expert told RIA Novosti that this was normal for the period of test flights, especially in the conditions of high humidity and “taking into account the safety of the air show visitors.”
The T-50, developed under the program PAK FA (Future Aviation System for Tactical Air Force) at the Sukhoi OKB, is expected to be put into service as soon as 2015.
The fighter performed its first public demonstration flight on Wednesday. The flight was observed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other dignitaries.