Russian military aircraft crashed, two pilots on board.

A Russian military plane crashed yesterday during several military maneuvers.

Russian agency reports that there were two pilots on the L-39 Albatros, whose fate is still unknown. Senior defence ministry officials are relieved that they may have died, as it has been too long since the crash and there is no chance that the pilots will be at sea for so long.

It is learned that L-39 had been flown to hold several tests, while it fell about 5 o'clock at a local time in Russia on Thursday's Black Sea afternoon.

The initial cause of the crash is thought to be a technical defect, while pilots may have left the plane after emergency parachutes were missing.