NEW DELHI – At least two pilot of the Indian air force were killed on Thursday when MiG-21 aircraft crashed in northern India, a statement from the IAF said.
Wing Commodore Mohit Rana, and Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal had taken off for training mission from an airbase in Rajasthan before the duo experienced the fatal accident, said the statement.
IAF added that a court of inquiry had been set up to investigate and determine the cause of the accident.
At 9:10 pm this evening, an IAF MiG 21 trainer aircraft met with an accident in the western sector during a training sortie.
Both pilots sustained fatal injuries.— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) July 28, 2022
The Mikoyan-Gurevich, also known as MIG 21, is a Soviet-era multirole fighter aircraft that once formed the backbone of the Indian air force fleet however several aging aircraft of this series experienced deadly crashes in the recent past.
Indian Air Force confirms sadly the MiG 21 trainer jet crash was fatal. No survivors. Two pilots were flying the fighter jet on a routine night flying sortie. Court of inquiry ordered. MiG 21 fighter jets have been in the service of IAF for six decades. Good yet Unforgiving jets. https://t.co/FxAq3GluBq pic.twitter.com/0IqR9dIbf6
— GAURAV C SAWANT (@gauravcsawant) July 28, 2022
MIG-21 has a poor safety record as the crash was the sixth MiG-21 aircraft to have gone down since January last year, with at least five pilots killed.
Indian air force planned to retire one of its four remaining squadrons of aging fighter jets in September this year, reports said.
Several helicopters of the Indian army also suffered deadly crashes since March 2017, claiming more than 30 personnel’s lives.
Last year, the first Indian chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat was killed with his wife and other officers in one of the worst helicopter crashes in recent times.
