MOSCOW - A Russian fighter jet crashed in southern Russia on Sunday, killing the pilot, Russian Air Force Commander Viktor Bondarev said.

"A pilot has been killed in a fighter crash," Bondarev said. "We are investigating this incident and, according to preliminary data, the crash was caused by aviation equipment failure."

The MiG-29 jet was on a routine training flight when it crashed in an airfield 30 km away from the port city of Astrakhan, the Interfax news agency quoted the commander as saying.

The crash happened at around 9:20 am Moscow time (0520 GMT).