Article Posted on : - Nov 07, 2009

A file photo.

MOSCOW (AP/PTI): A Russian military plane has crashed in the country's far east, killing all nine people aboard, according to news agencies reports.

An emergency ministry official said the Tu-142-M3 anti-submarine turboprop crashed late on Friday in the Tatarsky Strait, about 20 kilometers off the Pacific coast, ITAR Tass reported.

The plane disappeared off radar screens shortly after 1100 GMT when it was finishing a training flight, the Interfax news agency quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying.

The official said the bodies of the crew and wreckage from the plane were removed from the water by emergency boats, the report said.

Tu-142-M3 is a maritime reconnaissance aircraft that was widely used by the Soviet Navy.