A pilot was found dead at the crash site of a fighter Sukhoi Su-25, the warplane exploded, head of the press service and information department of the Russian Defense Ministry Major General Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Tuesday.

“The pilot was found dead at 08:32 Moscow time (04:32 GMT) on Tuesday at the crash site by a search party,” he said. “According to the report from the crash site the pilot tried to land the fighter on the ground after he steered the warplane away from the neighboring settlement. The fighter exploded in the touchdown,” the head said.

On Monday, the Command of the Air Force and the Air Defense Troops in the Southern Military District has lost radio contact at 20:17 Moscow time (16:17 GMT) with the pilot during a training flight of the fighter Su-25. According to preliminary reports, the pilot lost control of the warplane 49 kilometers northeast of the airfield Primorsko-Akhtarsk. In the evening of the same day rescuers from the airbase flying by a helicopter Kamov Ka-27 have spotted the crash site of the warplane, noting neither victims nor damaged buildings were reported on the ground.

The flights of the fighters Su-25 in the Southern Military District are suspended until all causes and details of the air crash are found, the press service and information department of the Russian Defence Ministry reported.

The committee of the Russian Defense Ministry is working at the crash site in Krasnodar Territory, Konashenkov added. The committee includes officers from the High Command of the Air Force and the flight security service of the Russian armed forces.