Indian Air Force MiG-21 Bison fighter jet crashes in Moga district, Punjab under unknown circumstances, The pilot Squadron leader Abhinav Chaudhary died in the crash.
The incident took place around 1 am on Friday when the Mig-21 of the IAF crashed at Langiana Khurd village of Baghapurana in Moga. The IAF aircraft was on a routine training sortie when the accident happened, the air force officials said.
“There was an aircraft accident last night involving a Bison aircraft of IAF in the western sector. The pilot, Squadron leader Abhinav Chaudhary, sustained fatal injuries. IAF condoles the tragic loss and stands firmly with the bereaved family,” the IAF tweeted.
A Court of Inquiry (CoI) has been ordered to investigate the cause of the incident, it said
The aircraft was on a routine training sortie when the accident happened, news agency ANI reported quoting Air Force officials.
This is the third accident involving the MiG-21 this year. In March, an Air Force Group Captain died when the aircraft was taking off for a combat training mission.
This is the third crash of a MiG-21 aircraft this year. In March, a Group Captain of the IAF was killed in an accident involving a MiG-21 Bison aircraft at an airbase in central India.
The accident took place when the aircraft was taking off for a combat training mission, the IAF had said, and added that Group Captain A Gupta was killed in the accident. A court of inquiry was ordered to determine the cause of the accident.
In January, a MiG-21 aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed near Suratgarh in Rajasthan. The pilot of the aircraft had ejected safely.
The single-engine, single-seater multirole fighter/ground attack aircraft of Russian origin forms the backbone of the IAF. It has a max speed of 2,230 km/hr (Mach 2.1) and carries one 23 mm twin-barrel cannon with four R-60 close combat missiles.
