MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter aircraft of the Russian Knights aerobatic team has crashed in the Moscow Region and the pilot has been killed, sources in the law enforcement agencies told TASS on Thursday.

"The aircraft that crashed today near the village of Muranovo [Pushkinsky district] was part of the Russian Knights aerobatic team of Russia’s Aerospace Forces. Its pilot was killed," the source said.

Earlier reports said that the crashed aircraft was a Mikoyan MiG-29 belonging to an industrial enterprise. The MiG aircraft corporation later told TASS the planes of this type did not perform any flights on Thursday.

Piloting error and engine failure are considered as the main causes of the crash, the source told TASS.

The warplane crashed in the forest some 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the village of Muranovo. There are no houses nearby and the crash did not result in an explosion.

Earlier in the day, a ceremony was held to open a monument to aviators in Ashukino, located near Muranovo. The planes of the Russian Knights aerobatic team flew above Ashukino as part of the event, attended by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force Viktor Bondarev.