Up for five days, a four Russian MiG-31 supersonic interceptor aircraft cannot fly away from the civilian airport in Usinsk, Komi.

According to Lenta.ru, the airmen of interceptor aircraft are waiting for refueling to continue its mission and return to home base.

“The aircraft will leave the airport after the necessary maintenance. It is worth noting that for the first time our airport received this type of aircraft, ”a source at the city’s airport explained.

On November 15, due to weather conditions, four MiG-31 fighter jets of Russian Aerospace Forces was forced to make an emergency landing in Usinsk, before reaching Vorkuta.

Now the crew of interceptor aircraft contacted the regional airline Komiaviatrans with a request for maintenance.

The MiG-31 is a supersonic interceptor aircraft developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as a replacement for the earlier MiG-25 “Foxbat”; the MiG-31 is based on and shares design elements with the MiG-25.  About 500 MiG-31s were produced until the early 1990s, of which 349 were the basic version.

The MiG-31 can climb at a rate of 208m a second and has the capacity to fly at 3,000km/h. The ferry and combat ranges of the aircraft are 3,300km and 720km respectively. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is 46,200kg. The cruise range and wing loading capacities are 1,620m and 665kg/m² respectively, while the maximum g-load is 5g.