Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a telegram of condolences to the next-of-kin of the pilots killed in the crash of an Il-112V plane near the Kubinka airfield, Moscow region, on Tuesday.
"Nikolai Kuimov, Dmitry Komarov and Nikolai Khludeyev were courageous people, true heroes and professionals. They belonged to the cohort of pioneers who tested the most sophisticated hardware and made a tremendous contribution to the development of domestic aviation. I ask you to convey my most sincere condolences and words of support to the next-of-kin of the killed pilots," said the telegram posted on the Kremlin website on Tuesday.
Russia’s new Il-112V light military transport plane crashed near the Kubinka airfield, 1.5 kilometers away from the landing strip, during a test flight on Tuesday. It collided with the ground and exploded. There were three crew onboard. They all died, including the flight commander, merited test pilot and Hero of Russia, Nikolai Kuimov. The pilots were trying to save the aircraft to the very end and were steering it away from residential buildings.
