Horrific footage shows the moment a tourist and her pilot are killed when their hang-glider suddenly plunges to the ground in Russia.

A criminal case has opened after 43-year-old tourist Anna Kozyreva’s glider got caught in a tailspin and crashed midway through a ride in the mountainous Adygea region yesterday.

A suspected wing problem on the motorised glider led to it plunging ‘like a stone’, with smoke visible from the flying craft.

Additional footage filmed at the crash site shows flames rising from the smouldering wreckage of the craft.

The dead pilot – the identity of whom has not yet been revealed – reportedly took the tourist for a paid ride without a licence to fly tourists, according to law enforcement officials.

Video of the craft’s final moments shows the two fliers spiralling towards the ground in front of horrified onlookers, who can be heard crying out in the background. 

The craft is clearly out of control, and can be seen malfunctioning before the tragic crash occurs in front of the mountains.

Footage captured the motorised hang-glider plunging towards the ground (Picture: East2West)

Both the pilot and his passenger, Russian tourist Anna Kozyreva, were killed in the tragic crash (Picture: East2West News)

One clip of the incident shows the glider flying overhead, while another watches it tailspin from a distance.

Emergency services were called to the scene in the Maykop district of Adygea republic in southern Russia.

The Russian Investigative Committee has since declared the incident a criminal case.

‘The pilot of the aircraft had no licence to fly it and no right to provide paid services,’ the agency said in a statement.

‘According to preliminary information, the crash was caused by a [wing] fracture, after which the aircraft fell into a gorge.

‘The pilot and his passenger were killed.’

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A suspected wing problem on the motorised glider led to it plunging ‘like a stone’.