An Indian Air Force MiG-21 fighter jet crashed near Rajasthan’s Barmer district on Thursday evening. It is known that both pilots lost their lives in the accident.
“It was an IAF aircraft that crashed near Baitur Bhimda village,” Baram District Collector Lok Bandu told PTI. Aircraft Design Russian-designed jets, the MiG-21 are the most accident-prone of the IAF fighter jets.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chowdhury about the Barmer incident. ANI reported that the IAF chief explained the details of the incident to him.
In response to the incident, the Indian Air Force said on Twitter that at 9:10 pm today, an IAF MiG 21 trainer aircraft met with an accident in the western sector during a training exercise. Initially, the IAF said that both the pilots were seriously injured. However, in another tweet, the Air Force also announced the death of both the pilots.
“The IAF deeply regrets the loss of life and strongly sympathizes with the bereaved families. A judicial inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident”.
History of MiG aircraft accidents In 2021, five MiG-21s crashed in India, killing three pilots. In December last year, an IAF pilot, Wing Commander Harshit Sinha, died when a MiG-21 fighter jet crashed in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan during a training exercise.
In August, another MiG-21 fighter jet, during a training exercise, crashed near a village in Rajasthan’s Barmer district. But the pilot came out safely.
A pilot was killed in another similar incident near Moga in Punjab in May that year. The IAF aircraft was on routine training at the time of the accident.
In March, an IAF group captain died when a MiG-21 aircraft crashed at an airfield in central India. Group Captain A Gupta was killed in the accident.
In January, an Indian Air Force MiG-21 crashed near Suratgarh in Rajasthan. The pilot of the plane managed to get out of the plane safely.