Pilot Killed After Indian Air Force Mig-21 Crashes in Punjab (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The pilot of an Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-21 fighter plane died in a crash near Moga in Punjab late Thursday night, according to the IAF.
The plane was on a routine training mission when it crashed in Moga's Langeana village, it said, the Hindustan Times reported.
An Indian Air Force official said that the accident took place at around 2 a.m., local time, near the Punjab's western sector. The pilot, Sqn. Ldr. Abhinav Chaoudhary, who reportedly ejected, nonetheless sustained fatal injuries.
A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident, the Indian Air Force said.
There have been several accidents involving decades-old MiG-21 aircraft in India. In April, a pilot was killed in a crash in Rajasthan, while in January another MiG-21 Bison jet crashed in the Rajasthan state while landing, although the pilot survived the incident.
The Indian Air Force received its first MiG-21 in 1963, and progressively inducted 874 variants of the Soviet-built supersonic fighters to bolster its combat potential.
The Indian Defence Ministry plans to phase out the remaining four squadrons of the MiG-21 Bison aircraft - a squadron has 16 to 18 fighter jets - in the next three to four years.
