MOSCOW, August 31 (RIA Novosti) - Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi is ready to help Belarus investigate the causes of a fatal accident involving a fighter jet built by the company, a Sukhoi spokesman said on Monday.
A Su-27 Flanker fighter owned by the Belarusian Air Force crashed while performing aerobatic maneuvers as part of the Radom Air Show in central Poland on Sunday. Col. Alexander Morfintsky and Col. Alexander Zhuravlevich, both deputy commanders, died in the accident.
"If a request comes in, we will consider it, and the company could send one or two representatives to help with the investigation into the air disaster," the spokesman told RIA Novosti.
A Belarusian Defense Ministry official said that according to preliminary data, the plane went down after a bird got caught in the engine.
"This will be the preliminary theory until there is a final conclusion," press secretary Vyachaslav Remenchik said.
He said earlier that the pilots had "guided the plane away from the populated area without ejecting, and at the cost of their own lives, prevented more severe consequences."
Two weeks ago during preparations for the MAKS-2009 air show outside Moscow, two Su-27 planes collided, killing one of the pilots.
