A former fighter pilot whose life was saved by an ejection seat has said that Russia is not acting in its own interests by creating a “mystery” surrounding the death of one of its pilots in the Sea of ​​Azov, Sky News reports.

Video footage of a Russian plane that fell into the water due to, according to Russian sources, an engine failure appeared yesterday.

“However, as is often the case when Russia tries to control the media narrative, not everything makes sense,” former British Air Force Vice Marshal and military analyst Sean Bell told Sky News.

The Su-25 is a twin-engine aircraft, which means it is “completely capable of operating with one engine,” he said.

According to Bell, the video shows the plane “slowly descending” and the pilot ejecting over water, the “best environment” for that.

“[Scaunele ejectoare] they are designed to save lives – and they are very effective at it. They really saved my life when I had to eject from a Harrier jet 30 years ago,” he said.

He explained that modern Western ejection seats provide a fully automated crew evacuation system, including life rafts and self-inflating life jackets.

“To me, this is just another example of Russian media meddling in history – it actually creates more questions than answers and doesn’t help the Russian cause,” he says.

He said the “most likely” cause of the pilot’s death was that his “old 1970s aircraft” had an antiquated ejection system that “for some reason did not save the pilot”.

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