Pilot Hero Killed

Pilot Hero Killed

A top navy pilot died after crashing his fighter jet Tuesday at an air show marking Navy Aviation Day.

Major General Timur Apakidze, a deputy navy commander, died on his way to a hospital, 15 minutes after being dragged from the wreckage of his Su-33 plane near the northwestern city of Pskov, a navy spokesman said.

Apakidze, a one-star general, held the Hero of Russia order, the country`s highest honor.

He lost altitude after performing air stunts and his jet crashed to the ground with a large explosion, according to Interfax.

The armed forces newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda had printed an interview with the navy`s aviation commander on Tuesday in which he paid tribute to Apakidze and four other pilots who had been awarded for bravery in testing the Su-33, a carrier-launched fighter jet.

It was Russia`s third deadly air crash this month. A cargo plane crashed at a military base in Moscow on Saturday killing 10 people, and a Tupolev-154 airliner crashed on July 3, killing all 145 people on board.

Reuters

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