Training plane crashes in Russia, killing instructor

Russian air force training plane crashed on Thursday. The instructor who was at the controls of the plane was killed in the crash. It has become the third deadly accident involving a Russian aircraft this week, the Defense Ministry said.

The other person aboard, a trainee, ejected and survived, a ministry spokesman said.

The L-39 craft crashed during a training flight in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia, according to the spokesman, who said he was not authorized to give his name, the AP says.

Air Force spokesman Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky said preliminary information indicated a technical problem caused the crash, but that investigators would also consider other possible causes.

An MD-600 helicopter crashed in Siberia on Wednesday, killing three of the four people aboard, and an Mi-8 helicopter carrying high-level officers crashed in southern Russia on Monday, killing 11 of the 15 people aboard.