MURANOVO VILLAGE (Moscow Region), June 9. /TASS/. A Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet from the Russian Knights aerobatic team that crashed in the Moscow Region most likely exploded when it hit the ground, an eye-witness told TASS on Thursday.

"I watched the flight but the plane wasn’t seen in the sky. Only an explosion was heard and then a column of black smoke came from a forest area," the eye-witness said.

The law-enforcers who were present at the disaster scene told TASS that a pilot had tried to bring the plane out of the dive to avoid falling on residential buildings that were located some 200 meters from the crash site.

It was reported earlier on Thursday that a Su-27 fighter plane had crashed in the Pushkino district of the Moscow Region. Russia’s Defense Ministry officially confirmed the plane’s crash and the pilot’s death.