Preliminary investigation showed that the Su-25 aircraft that crashed during an exercise on Tuesday, killing its pilot, had been fully checked and preflight inspections carried out, says the Ministry of Defence in the statement.

The agency was commenting on the crash of the ground attack aircraft that killed Kakhaber Zurabashvili, an Aviation and Air Command pilot.

“All procedures stipulated by the regulations were observed in the preflight checks for the airframe. Investigators had worked throughout the night on an area of several hectares around the crash site, with Minister Irakli Chikovani and Major General Giorgi Matiashvili, the Chief of the country’s Defence Forces, present at the scene.

All necessary procedures were being carried out to fully investigate the tragic incident. Parts of the aircraft had been identified and its black box located”, - says the Ministry.