A Tu-22M3 supersonic bomber of the Russian Air Force died in a pre-takeoff accident in Kaluga Oblast on Tuesday when three crew members on board ejected from the ground for unknown reasons and fell to their deaths when their parachutes failed to open.
Originally the Defense-Blog reported that the Tu-22M3 crashed at Shaykovka AFB in Kaluga, but later Interfax reported that the bomber did not crash, but that the pilot activated his ejection chair before takeoff.
The Aviationist reported that a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry said three of the men were fatally injured because their parachutes could not be opened in Time “because the altitude was too low for the parachutes to work and the three crew members suffered fatal injuries when they landed.”
TASS said one crew member survived and that he is currently being treated at the Shaikovka Medical Institute.
Tu-22M2 (top) and Tu-22M3 (bottom), with apparently modified air intakes. (Photo/Moscow Aviation Museum, Russian Air Force)
The Tu-22M3 has a crew of four: two pilots sit at the front (main pilot on the left, co-pilot on the right), with the navigator (on the right) and the weapons systems controller (on the left) in the back row. All crew members were attached to KT-1M ejection seats in the ASS (Automatic Rescue System). According to the Russian warplane monograph, the speed standard for safe ejection of this type of ejection chair is 130 km/h at altitudes below 60 meters. Although our sources believe to go to 140 km/h.
The Tu-22M3 was a variable swept-wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber designed by the Tupolev design bureau (Tupolev) for the Soviet Union in the 1970s. The prototype was introduced in 1969, but the real production version entered service in 1972 and was modified by the M1, M2, and M3. The M3 model first flew in 1977, with the air inlet changed to resemble the MiG-25, F- The M3 was first flown in 1977, and its air inlet was changed to a rectangular air inlet similar to the MiG-25 and F-15, equipped with a larger thrust NK-25 engine, and its speed was increased to Mach 2.05, making NATO quite defensive. However, NATO overestimated its range because the Soviet Union had been doing a poor job of lightweighting the aircraft, and the overweight hull limited the Tu-22M3’s flight range.
On January 22, 2019, the Tu-22M3 also had a fatal accident when a Tu-22M3 from Olenegorsk Air Base (Olenegorsk AFB) in the Murmansk Region risked landing in blizzard conditions and ended up sliding directly off the runway and tumbling into flames, killing two of the four crew members on board and seriously injuring two.
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