A MiG-27 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed in an agriculture field in Jodhpur’s Banad area during a routine mission on Tuesday morning, but no loss of life was reported.
The pilot ejected safely from the single-seater fighter aircraft and was taken to a hospital in an IAF helicopter, defence spokesperson Colonel Sombit Ghosh said.
“A MiG-27 aircraft airborne from Jodhpur crashed during a routine mission today morning. The pilot ejected safely. A Court of Inquiry will investigate the cause of the incident,” he said.
The Russian-made tactical strike fighter crashed within minutes of taking off from the Jodhpur airbase.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Jodhpur East, Amandeep Singh Kapoor told PTI that the incident occurred in Dangyawas police station area and no loss of life or property was reported.
“Police rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area. IAF investigating team has also reached the spot,” he said.
Eyewitnesses said that they saw two fighter jets flying together, but one of them suddenly took a turn towards the open field and crashed near Devalia village in Banad area.
“Two fighter jets were flying together, but suddenly one of them changed its course and took a turn towards the open area and crashed. We saw the pilot ejecting and he parachuted in to the agriculture field,” Sunil Bishnoi, one of the eyewitnesses, told PTI.
“We believe the pilot turned the aircraft towards the field in order to avoid the crash in a populated area,” he said.
Another eyewitness, Omprakash, said that he saw smoke emanating from the aircraft before it crashed.
In June, a MiG-27 upgrade aircraft on a routine mission sortie crashed in the residential area in Jodhpur. In that crash, the pilot, Flying Officer Kandpal, ejected safely, seconds before the aircraft crashed, and there was no loss to the human lives at the site of the crash. Two houses and a vehicle parked nearby suffered major damages. The aircraft crashed barely 50 metres from the spot where the pilot himself had a narrow brush with death while ejecting out over an electric transformer in the local Bhaironath temple.
In January 2015, a MiG-27 fighter jet on a routine sortie from the Jodhpur air base to Uttarlai crashed in Rajasthans Barmer while a fraction of it fell on a passing motorcyclist. The injured young man Loon Singh was on his way to a village to distribute invitations for his wedding. The pilot even in this case had ejected out safely.
