MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. The pilot of the L-39 training plane, which crashed in Russia’s Kuban, could not eject because he sought to drive the plane away from the nearest settlement, Russian Ministry of Defense told journalists Wednesday.

"The search and rescue service consider the version that the pilot sought to fly away from the nearest settlement the most probable," the Ministry said.

According to the Ministry, the pilot activated the ejection system, but the altitude was not enough for it to work properly.