THE navigator of a Russian fighter jet downed by Turkey is alive and has been picked up by the Syrian army and Russian special forces, the New York Times and Russian officials report.

“One on board was wounded when he parachuted down and killed in a savage way on the ground by jihadists in the area. The other managed to escape and according to the latest information we have, he was picked up by the Syrian army and will be taken to the Russian airbase,” Alexander Orlov told Europe 1 radio.

Fears had been held for his safety after his co-pilot was killed by Syrian rebel forces after they together ejected from the destroyed Russian warplane and parachuted to the ground.

Orlov said Russia would be prepared to “create a joint staff” to fight Islamic State in which Moscow would work with France, the US and even Turkey — despite accusing the latter nation of being an “accomplice” of IS extremists.

“We are prepared to... plan strikes on Daesh (IS) positions together and create a joint staff with France, the US, with all the countries who want to be in this coalition,” said Alexander Orlov,” adding: “If the Turks want to be in at as well, they are welcome.”

DISTURBING FOOTAGE OF CHOPPER EXPLOSION

VIDEO has captured the horrifying moment a Russian rescue helicopter was blown up after a marine was killed trying to save the pilots.

Rebels in northern Syria released disturbing footage to back claims they killed one of the Russian jet’s crew members and the soldier sent to save them before also destroying the helicopter.

The clip, published by the Free Syrian Army, shows a fighter operating American-made artillery to strike the helicopter with a missile shortly after they forced it to make an emergency landing, causing it to explode into a fireball.

RUSSIA URGED TO FOCUS AIRSTRIKES ON ISIS

US President Barack Obama has pressed Russia to focus its attacks in Syria on Islamic State militants after Turkey heightened tensions by shooting down a Russian warplane.

Obama said such confrontations could be avoided if Russia stopped attacking “moderate” Syrian rebels battling forces loyal to dictator President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia is supporting Assad’s government, while western nations insist he needs to step down for peace to take hold in Syria.

“This points to an ongoing problem with the Russian operations in the sense that they are operating very close to a Turkish border and they are going after moderate opposition that are supported by not only Turkey but a wide range of countries,” Obama said.

If Russia directs its energies toward IS forces, “some of those conflicts or potentials for mistakes or escalation are less likely to occur”, Obama said.

MOSCOW DENIES BEING WARNED

Audio recordings of Turkish pilots challenging Russian fighter jets minutes before shooting one down appear to contradict Moscow’s denial that any such warning was given.

Russia’s defence ministry issued a statement claiming there was ‘no objective evidence’ of a warning before Turkish F-16 fighter jets opened fire, shooting down a Russian Su-24M ‘Fencer’ on its border with Syria.

US military sources have confirmed they had monitored the warnings, and several recordings purporting to be challenges made by the Turkish pilots have been released.

Such a clash has been feared ever since Russia deployed aircraft, tanks and troops to support the Syrian al-Assad regeime in its struggle against both US-backed rebels and Islamic State jihadists in September.

Moscow, quoting what it said were preliminary reports, said one of two pilots who ejected from the combat jet was killed by gunfire from the ground as he descended.

And a Russian soldier was killed when a helicopter search-and-rescue operation came under fire, it said.

Shortly after the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed Ankara as “accomplices of terrorists”.

Russia has since declared it will deploy the anti-aircraft cruiser Moskva close to the coastal Syria-Turkey border in response to the incident. All ground-strike missions will also now be covered by fighter aircraft.

“We warn that every target posing a potential threat will be destroyed,” lieutenant general Sergey Rudskoy said during a briefing in Moscow.

US President Barack Obama said Turkey had “a right to defend its territory and its airspace” but urged against any escalation, while NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg also called for calm.

Analysts said the incident risks derailing efforts to bring peace to Syria that were gaining tentative momentum following the November 13 Paris terror attacks, claimed by Islamic State militants who control swathes of northern Syria.

BLAME GAME ESCALATES

The US military has backed up Turkey’s claim that Turkish pilots warned a Russian jet 10 times - but failed to get a response - before shooting it down.

Moscow insisted that the jet had stayed inside Syrian territory, and Damascus denounced the incident as “flagrant aggression” against Syrian sovereignty.

Putin said the plane fell in Syrian territory four kilometres from the border and “did not in any way threaten Turkey”.

“We were able to hear everything that was going on, these (communications) were on open channels,” Baghdad-based military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said in a video call with reporters.

#SYRIA #Rudskoy Objective monitoring data confirmed no attempts of Turkish plane to establish communication or visual contact with Rus crew — Минобороны России (@mod_russia) November 24, 2015

Here's the Audio of the Turkish Air Force warning the Russian Su-24 before downing it https://t.co/8Ehwcuh9g3 pic.twitter.com/EVAPGHmYls — David Cenciotti (@cencio4) November 24, 2015

He added it was not immediately clear on which side of the Turkish-Syrian border the Russian jet had been flying, and it would take some time to analyse data before arriving at that determination.

Turkish ambassador to the United Nations Halit Cevik said in a letter to the Security Council that two Russian planes had flown a little more than a mile into Turkish airspace for 17 seconds.

A US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the timing, but said it remained unknown if Turkey had fired on one of the jets as it was in Turkish airspace, or after it had crossed back into Syria.

NEED TO REDUCE TENSIONS

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this morning said the incident was a “matter of great concern”.

“We call on all parties to exercise restraint in respect of this incident,” he said. “The facts and the circumstances are not, of course, yet known.

“There obviously will be issues between Turkey and Russia as to which side of the border the place was on, but restraint it essential.”

Mr Turnbull described Syria as a “very, very complex theatre”.

“The various players in that theatre have, well, a number of them have got differing agendas, differing objectives, which in some cases overlap and in some cases are at odds with each other,” he said.

“The Turks have got a high concern, high level of concern about the Kurdish - you know, fears of Kurdish separatism.

“The Russians have, as a priority, the protection or the preservation of the Assad regime.

“Australia’s objective is to operate in Syria as part of the collective self-defence of Iraq against ISIL or Daish, so our objective is limited to that.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Barack Obama have this morning agreed on the need to reduce tensions and prevent a repeat of similar incidents.

“They were in accord on the importance of de-escalating tensions and making arrangements to prevent a repeat of such incidents,” the Turkish presidency said in a statement following telephone talks between the two leaders.

The statement said that Obama had emphasised in the telephone talks that Turkey’s right to defend its sovereignty was “supported by the United States and NATO”.

They also expressed their commitment to a bringing about a transitional political process for peace in Syria and joint determination to continue the fight against Islamic State (IS) jihadists, the statement added

CONFUSION OVER CREW’S FATE

The Turkish army said the downing took place over the Yayladagi district of Hatay province on the border with Syria after the “plane violated Turkish air space 10 times in five minutes despite warnings.”

RELATED: When combat-jet games of ‘chicken’ go terribly wrong

Turkish television pictures showed the Su-24 exploding and crashing in a ball of flames into a Syrian mountain and two pilots parachuting to the ground after ejecting.

“Everyone must respect the right of Turkey to protect its borders,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in his first official reaction to the downing of the war plane.

Syrian rebels shoot down Russian helicopter after it lands Syrian fighters destroyed a Russian helicopter with a missile, shortly after they forced it to make an emergency landing in a nearby government-held area in Syria's Latakia province. Courtesy: YouTube/1st Coastal Division

A Turkish government official had earlier insisted both pilots were still alive, but Russian military spokesman General Sergei Rudskoi said one had been killed by fire from the ground, citing “preliminary details”.

The fate of the second pilot was unknown. Rudskoi said a soldier had been killed in a failed bid to rescue the pair after one of his squadron’s helicopters was damaged by gunfire and had to land.

In light of recent events: Russian guided missile cruiser 'Moskva', currently deployed off #Latakia coast, #Syria pic.twitter.com/nvB7rbZnSk — Naval Graphics (@Naval_Graphics) November 24, 2015

In a statement published on the Russian defence ministry’s website, General Sergei Rudskoi said a soldier had been killed when his Mi-8 helicopter was “damaged by gunfire and had to land” during a search-and-rescue operation to retrieve the pair.

Two helicopters were used in the operation.

The rest of the crew on-board the stricken Mi-8 were evacuated to the Hmeimim air base in Syria’s northern Latakia province, Rudskoi said, adding that the helicopter was hit by mortar fire coming from territory under rebel control.

WORLD LEADERS CALL FOR CALM

The shooting down of the Russian plane is the first of its kind since Moscow launched air strikes in Syria in September in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, causing concern in the West over a possible clash with US-led coalition planes also in the skies.

Russian fighter jets entered Turkish airspace in two separate incidents in October while Turkey also shot down a Russian-made drone that had entered its airspace.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov scrapped a planned visit to Turkey today while President Vladimir Putin branded the shooting down of the aircraft a “stab in the back committed by accomplices of terrorists”.

He said oil from jihadist-controlled territory was exported through Turkey while funding was sent the other way, and warned: “The tragic event will have serious consequences for Russian-Turkish relations.”

He said the risk of attacks “is no less of a threat than in Egypt” where all 224 people on-board a Russian passenger jet were killed in October in an attack claimed by IS.

At Ankara’s request, NATO allies have held an “extraordinary” meeting to discuss the incident.

“As we have repeatedly made clear, we stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our NATO ally, Turkey,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said after the emergency meeting of all 28 members.

“Diplomacy and de-escalation are important to resolve this situation,” he said.

“This highlights the importance of having and respecting arrangements to avoid such incidents in the future,” he said. ”

CONFUSED CAMPAIGN IN CRISIS

The incident comes as Russian and Syrian jets wage a heavy bombing campaign against targets in northern Syria while the US-led coalition continues its own air strikes.

Turkey has expressed anger at the operation, saying it is aimed at buttressing the Bashar al-Assad regime and has displaced thousands of Turkmen Syrians, an ethnic minority in the area and strong allies of Ankara.

Turkey and Russia have long been at loggerheads over the Syrian conflict, with Ankara seeking Assad’s overthrow while Moscow does everything to keep him in power.

The complex web of allegiances in Syria has long been feared as a source of conflict between Moscow and the west.

Russia supports dictator President Assad, who has given Moscow access to a Mediterranean port.

The United States supports rebel forces opposed to Assad, some of which have since joined Islamic State.

Both Russia and the United States (and its coalition) are engaging in air strikes against Islamic State.

Russia, however, is also bombing the rebel opponents of President Assad.

Adding further confusion to the mix, Turkey has been launching air strikes against Kurdish forces which it regards as separatists and terrorists. The Iraqi and Syrian Kurds are backed by the west as the only force to successfully withstand theIslamic State’s assault.