Iran Fighter Jet Crashes after Engine Fails, Pilots Survive

Iranian air force’s US-made F-4 Phantom fighter jets perform during a parade on the occasion of the country’s Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. (AFP)
Iranian air force’s US-made F-4 Phantom fighter jets perform during a parade on the occasion of the country’s Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. (AFP)
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Iran Fighter Jet Crashes after Engine Fails, Pilots Survive

Iranian air force’s US-made F-4 Phantom fighter jets perform during a parade on the occasion of the country’s Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. (AFP)
Iranian air force’s US-made F-4 Phantom fighter jets perform during a parade on the occasion of the country’s Army Day, on April 18, 2017, in Tehran. (AFP)

An Iranian fighter plane crashed near the central city of Isfahan on Saturday after its engine failed, but both pilots survived, media reported.

The pilots were taken to a local hospital, the official IRNA news agency said. It said there was a technical failure in the engine of the Grumman F-14 Tomcat that led to the crash.

A clip by the agency showed columns of smoke billowing from the remains of the aircraft in a desert area.

Iran’s air force has an assortment of US-made military aircraft purchased before the 1979 revolution and the Tomcat F-14 is American-made. It also has Russian-made MiG and Sukhoi planes. Decades of Western sanctions have made it hard to obtain spare parts and maintain the aging aircraft.

Iran has a history of similar crashes among its faltering fleet. In May a fighter jet crashed in the central desert of Iran, killing both pilots. In February, a fighter jet plunged into a soccer field in the country’s northwestern city of Tabriz, killing both pilots and a civilian.



Ukraine Downs a Russian Warplane and Russia Claims Gains in the East

Ukrainian service members inspect parts of a Russian aerial vehicle, which local authorities assume to be a newest heavy unmanned aerial vehicle S-70 Okhotnik (Hunter) or variation of Sukhoi fighting jet, is seen in residential area of the town of Kostiantynivka after it was shot down, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine October 5, 2024. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Serhii Nuzhnenko via Reuters)
Ukrainian service members inspect parts of a Russian aerial vehicle, which local authorities assume to be a newest heavy unmanned aerial vehicle S-70 Okhotnik (Hunter) or variation of Sukhoi fighting jet, is seen in residential area of the town of Kostiantynivka after it was shot down, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine October 5, 2024. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Serhii Nuzhnenko via Reuters)
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Ukraine Downs a Russian Warplane and Russia Claims Gains in the East

Ukrainian service members inspect parts of a Russian aerial vehicle, which local authorities assume to be a newest heavy unmanned aerial vehicle S-70 Okhotnik (Hunter) or variation of Sukhoi fighting jet, is seen in residential area of the town of Kostiantynivka after it was shot down, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine October 5, 2024. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Serhii Nuzhnenko via Reuters)
Ukrainian service members inspect parts of a Russian aerial vehicle, which local authorities assume to be a newest heavy unmanned aerial vehicle S-70 Okhotnik (Hunter) or variation of Sukhoi fighting jet, is seen in residential area of the town of Kostiantynivka after it was shot down, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine October 5, 2024. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Serhii Nuzhnenko via Reuters)

Ukrainian forces said they shot down a Russian fighter plane on Saturday while Russia claimed it made gains in Ukraine’s east.

The Russian bomber was shot down near the city of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk province, head of the Kostiantynivka Military Administration Serhiy Horbunov was quoted as saying by Ukraine’s public broadcaster, Suspilne. Photos showed charred remains of an aircraft after it landed on a house that caught fire.

Also in the partially occupied Donetsk province, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Saturday that it had taken control of the village of Zhelanne Druhe.

If confirmed, the capture would come three days after Ukrainian forces said they were withdrawing from the front-line town of Vuhledar, some 33 kilometers (21 miles) from Zhelanne Druhe, following a hard-fought two-year defense.

Although unlikely to change the course of the war, the loss of Vuhledar is indicative of Kyiv’s worsening position, in part the result of Washington's refusal to grant Ukraine permission to strike targets deep inside Russian territory and preventing Kyiv from degrading Moscow’s capabilities.

Meanwhile, two people died in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said.

Ukraine’s air force said that Russia had launched three guided missiles and 13 attack drones at Ukraine overnight into Saturday. It said the missiles were intercepted, three drones were shot down over the Odesa region and 10 others were lost.

Nine people were wounded when a Ukrainian drone struck a passenger bus in the city of Horlivka in the partially occupied Donetsk region, the city’s Russian-installed Mayor Ivan Prikhodko said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that air defenses shot down 10 Ukrainian drones overnight in three border regions, including seven over the Belgorod region, two over the Kursk region, and one over the Voronezh region.