GUJARAT – A training aircraft crashed in Gujarat’s Mehsana district, India, on Monday evening.
According to Indian media, the crash injured a female trainee pilot, who was taken to a hospital for medical treatment. Mehsana Taluka Police Inspector D.G. Badwa stated that the single-engine aircraft crashed near Uchharpi village due to technical issues.
Inspector Badwa further explained that the aviation academy’s trainer aircraft crashed in a field after taking off from Mehsana Airport.
Reports indicate that such incidents are not uncommon in India. While the country discusses purchasing F-35 fighter jets, it struggles to maintain its training aircraft. On March 7, two Indian planes, including a fighter jet, crashed on the same day.
Defence experts have pointed out that air crashes have become routine in the Indian military, with the Indian Air Force increasingly resembling a “flying graveyard.”
A report from last year revealed that over the past 30 years, 534 Indian Air Force aircraft have been involved in crashes, resulting in 152 pilot deaths. In the last five years alone, 45 air accidents have occurred.
