SHENYANG, China, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) — A North Korean MiG 21 crashed  in a Chinese border area, killing the pilot aboard who may have attempted to defect to Russia, intelligence sources here said Wednesday.

The crash took place in Fushun Prefecture in the province of Liaoning Tuesday afternoon, the sources said, adding the pilot was the only person in the aircraft when it crashed.

“The pilot died on the spot,” one source said, adding the Chinese authorities were able to identify the nationality of the MiG only after the crash.

Chinese authorities had confirmed that a small aircraft flew into their territory but did not identify its origin.

“The MiG unexpectedly crashed while flying over Fushun,” the source said, declining to be identified.

Another source said that the MiG is believed to have lost its direction while flying to Russia after escaping North Korea. China has a repatriation pact with North Korea, and that may have led the pilot to choose Russia as his destination.

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Fushun is about 200 kilometers away from a North Korean air base in the border town of Sinuiju. The number of North Korean soldiers defecting from their impoverished homeland has increased in recent months as food shortages deepen, observers say.

Chinese believes it is a defection attempt.

Another photo of crash site. The tail section looks like that of old MIG model.

Likely it was flown not by a professional pilot but by a civilian with some basic training in crop dusting. The reason is simple – it’s impossible for a professional to mistake flying to China (South) and flying to Russia (North.) You could do that by stars, by the sun, and of course by any compass. Pilots who fly these airplanes on duty know the land, can find the compass among the instruments, and can escape easily. Only a civilian can be confused enough to lose orientation and on top of that probably make a small mistake in piloting that an old military aircraft (without computers) is not likely to forgive.

Source: Freerepublic.com