MOSCOW, August 30. /TASS/. An engine blast of an air rocket after it was launched during a training mission caused the crash of Su-27 fighter jet on March 25, 2020 over the Black Sea near the Crimean coast, the head of the Russian Armed Forces flights safety service told Zvezda TV channel, citing the conclusions of the investigators.

"The commission’s conclusions are clear. The cause of the air crash was the explosion of the rocket’s engine on the trajectory of its descending," Sergei Baynetov said.

On March 25, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that a Su-27 fighter jet, which was performing a routine flight, vanished off the radars over the Black Sea some 50 km off Feodosia in Crimea. During the search operation conducted on March 25-27, the pilot was not found. The search effort involved vessels of the Black Sea Fleet, the Border Service as well as civilian vessels and helicopters.