Russia’s MiG-31s were grounded after the crash of one of the fighter jets in the Perm region on Tuesday. Its two crew members were both killed in the accident. The cause of the crash is currently being investigated. The crash of the MIG was not a first for the Perm region – in November, 2010, a MiG-31 crashed 60 km from Bolshoye Savino aerodrome. In that instance the pilots managed to catapult to safety.
Experts say that the nation’s fleet of MiG-31s is aging as the last such airplane was produced in 1994. “Only a small portion of MiG-31s have been modernized since then, the majority of the fleet is seriously run-down,” a source in the Defence Ministry told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.