A Russian fighter pilot caught the moment he ejected himself from a plane about to crash land using a head camera. The pilot was flying over at Ukraine at the time and it’s thought he may have come into contact with groundfire.
Just seconds before the Russian pilot's plane landed on the ground causing a huge explosion, the quick thinker ejected himself from the plane and in doing so saved his life. It’s become common practice for both Russian and Ukrainian pilots to fly extremely close to the ground so that go undetected by radar, therefore, reducing the chance of a missile attack.
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However, flying close to the ground comes with its own set of problems; 1) pilots are much more susceptible to ground fire from machine guns and shoulder-fired missiles, and 2) it’s much easier to clip trees when flying at speed so low.
While the video might look like an exciting James Bond moment, in reality, it was a life-or-death situation and the pilot’s quick thinking resulted in one less casualty. According to Forbes, Russia has lost 81 aircraft since the illegal war with Ukraine began while Ukraine has lost less than half that at 39 - it’s not clear how many pilots have survived.
It has been reported by The National News that the pilot was flying a Sukhoi SU-25 bomber which is just one of ten different fighter and attack planes used by the Russian military. The video was originally posted to a Russian military telegram channel but was picked up by and posted to Twitter by military analyst Rob Lee. One Twitter user noticed that it was missing a piece of the tail and flames were coming out of the engine which isn’t normal, why the plane crashed isn’t clear.
Despite ejecting himself from the plane just meters from the ground to the ground the pilot was able to release his parachute and land safely - albeit with a massive thud.
