Shocking footage shows a Russian long range bomber jet crashing after overshooting the runway at a military base.
Pilots on the Tupolev TU-22M3 aircraft had aborted takeoff but the plane failed to stop and careered off the tarmac into trees.
The incident took place during the recent controversial Zapad 2017 war games in Kaluga, west Russia earlier this month.
Big crash: Pilots on the Tupolev TU-22M3 aircraft had aborted takeoff but the plane failed to stop at the end of the tarmac and crashed
The crew of four all escaped escaped from the Tupolev bomber, and air force officials in Moscow claimed the plane will fly again after repairs to ‘serious damage’.
Footage shows the missile carrier speeding up before take off, but then releasing its brake parachute and failing to stop.
It was carry near maximum weight for the aborted takeoff.
The crew halted the takeoff because of malfunctioning speed sensors, say high ranking sources.
‘The cause of the accident was the failure of speed sensors during take-off, resulting in the crew deciding to abort,’ said a senior official.
Hitting the breaks: Video footage shows the plane releasing its break parachute, but there is no sign of it slowing down
Jetting off: The plane speeds past the camera after aborting take-off, careering off tarmac
Disaster: The plane crashed into the trees, reportedly losing its wings on impact
Reports say the Tupolev’s wings separated from the main body of the plane during the crash.
‘The crew did not get hurt,’ said a Russian Defence Ministry spokesman.
‘The aircraft will continue carrying out assigned tasks after completion of maintenance work.’
The plane went about 100 meters along the runway, wheeled past the end of it and only managed to stop next to a forest, after losing both its wings and chassis.
The embarrassing incident is being investigated by a specially created Air and Space Forces commission.
Last week Vladimir Putin fired Russian Aerospace Forces Commander-In-Chief Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev for reasons that were not fully clear.
Safe: The crew of four all escaped escaped from the Tupolev bomber, and air force officials in Moscow claimed the plane will fly again after repairs to ‘serious damage
Some sources linked his switch to become a senator to failures including an earlier Tupolev-154 crash last Christmas and another unexplained ‘catastrophe’.
All 92 passengers and crew, including 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble choir of the Russian Armed Forces, perished.
The plane was en route to Syria.
Currently the Russian Air and Space Forces 62 long range TU-22M3 bombers in service.
Its NATO reporting name is Backfire, and it is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber .
Yesterday other Tupolev Tu-95MS bombers fired Kh-101 cruise missiles on ISIL and Al-Nusra terrorist targets in Syria after flying from Engels military base in central Russia, said the ministry.
But another Tupolev Tu-154M made its final flight before being pensioned off as a museum piece in Slovakia.