Russian military cargo plane crashes, killing 5 crewmembers

Russian Air Force Ilyushin IL-76MD aircraft fly over St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on May 5, 2021. (Pavel Golovkin / AP)

MOSCOW -

A Russian military cargo plane crashed Friday, killing five crewmembers and leaving several others injured, officials said.

The heavy-lift Il-76 cargo plane went down in Russia's southwestern Ryazan region. The Russian Defence Ministry said the aircraft suffered an engine problem that forced the crew to crash-land.

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The regional administration initially said that four crew members died and another five were injured when the plane slammed into a field just outside the city of Ryazan. Russian state news agency Tass reported later that one of the injured had died.

Video showed at least one charred engine separated from the fuselage lying on a green meadow near woods, a highway and houses. Pieces of the plane were strewn on the meadow, some in flames.

The four-engine Il-76 was designed in the 1970s and has served as the main heavy-lift cargo plane for the Soviet and Russian air force. Many other countries have also used the plane.

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