The accident happened at 4:27pm Moscow time (12:27pm GMT) during a scheduled flight from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier.
Captain First Class of the Russian Navy Igor Dygalo said the Su-33 aircraft piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Korneyev was attempting to land. After the aircraft touched down on the deck of the ship, it snapped the ship's break cable, slid off the deck, fell into the sea and sank to a depth of 1,100 meters.
The pilot bailed out of the aircraft and was rescued in the water by a Ka-27 PS rescue helicopter five minutes later, uninjured.
There were no weapons or ammunition aboard the aircraft, the press service said.
The black box was automatically released from the aircraft, floated to the surface independently and retrieved, Dygalo said.
