A Russian military plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean during a training flight late on Friday. The Defence Ministry said all 11 people onboard are missing.
It said in a statement a search was under way for the crew of the Tu-142 aircraft. But RIA news agency quoted a military source as saying there was little chance of finding survivors.
Russia has a very bad air safety records, with elderly Soviet-era planes and dated airport facilities. The Vesti television channel showed pictures of debris including broken seats close to the crash site.
The anti-submarine aircraft disappeared from radar screens while flying over the Tatar Strait separating the Russian mainland from the island of Sakhalin, the ministry said on its website.
Interfax news agency cited an unidentified source close to the commission investigating the crash as saying the most likely cause was a mechanical fault.
Last year, all 88 passengers and crew aboard an Aeroflot-Nord Boeing aircraft died when the plane crashed near the Ural mountains. Russian investigators said poor training was the primary cause of the crash and In 2006, 170 people were killed when a Tu-154 plane crashed in Ukraine on a flight to St Petersburg.
