IAF Fighter Jet crashes near Suratgarh in Rajasthan

A MiG-21 combat aircraft of the Indian Air Force (AF) crashed near Suratgarh in Rajasthan.

According to the local media, a technical malfunction is said to have caused the crash. The incident happened at 8.15 pm (according to Indian Time) today.

The IAF said in a tweet, “During a training sortie in the western sector, a MiG-21 Bison aircraft experienced a major technical malfunction this evening. The pilot ejected safely at about 2015 hrs. There is no loss of life. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.”

During a training sortie in the western sector, a MiG-21 Bison aircraft experienced a major technical malfunction this evening. The pilot ejected safely at about 2015 hrs. There is no loss of life. An Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.

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— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) January 5, 2021

Local media reported that the Indian Air Force lost 27 aircraft, including 15 fighter jets and helicopters, in crashes since 2016, Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik had said in Parliament in 2019.

In the 2016-17 fiscal, six IAF fighter jets, two helicopters, one transport aircraft and one trainer crashed. In 2017-18, the air force lost two fighter jets and one trainer aircraft in crashes.

Back in August 2020, IAF officer committed suicide by shooting himself with a service pistol.

In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, a warrant officer in the Indian Air Force (IAF) has committed suicide by shooting himself with his service pistol inside a camp in Jammu.

Warrant Officer, Inder Pal Singh, 53, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, shot himself at Air Force Station, Kalu Chak, on the outskirts of Jammu.

Inder Pal Singh Singh’s colleagues rushed him to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead.