The Defense Ministry said one of its planes crashed near its base in Ukraine, killing three of its four crew members.
The ministry said the Navy's Beriyev Be-12 twin-engine turboprop crashed Friday near its base on Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. The only crew member who survived the crash was hospitalized in serious condition.
RIA-Novosti said the crash occurred after one of the plane's engines failed as it was preparing to land. It said the craft had been in service for more than 30 years.
The military has suspended the flights of all planes of that type pending an investigation. The Be-12 is an amphibious plane in service with the Soviet and then Russian Navy since the early 1960s.
(AP)
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