Skip to main content

IAF MiG-21 crashes in Rajasthan, pilot killed



A MiG-21 Bison fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed on Monday while landing at Uttarlai airbase in Rajasthan's Barmer district, killing the pilot.
"One MiG–21 Bison crashed at the Uttarlai airbase at about 0930 hours. The pilot sustained fatal injuries," the IAF said in a statement.
The aircraft had taken off with its flight lieutenant-rank pilot from the airbase for a routine training sortie and crashed while landing at the runway, officials said.
Defence ministry spokesperson in Jodhpur Colonel S D Goswami said a Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the reason behind the crash.
There was no reported loss to civilian life or property, he said.
In June, a MiG-21 plane from the same airbase had crashed, but the pilots had managed to eject safely. The vintage MiG-21s have been in service for over 40 years now and they are expected to continue flying till 2018-19 in view of the delays in the induction of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft.
The IAF had inducted over 900 MiG-21s in its fleet over a period of 40 years, half of which were lost in different crashes.
This year, this is the sixth crash involving an IAF aircraft and fifth of a fighter plane.
The aircraft which have crashed this year include one each of MiG-29, MiG-27, Su-30MKI and Mi-17V5 medium-lift helicopter. Two MiG-21s have crashed this year.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

LCA vs grippen vs JF-17 vs F-CK-1

  India’s much awaited supersonic fighter jet, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas was inducted into the IAF yesterday. LCA Tejas is India’s first indigenously built light combat aircraft and its induction has highlighted India’s defence aviation and self sufficiency capabilities to the world. We have to wait and watch if LCA TEJAS matches other multirole fighters like Gripen, JF-17  and F-CK-1. So lets go ahead and compare the features of LCA TEJAS with the rest. Lets start with the LCA TEJAS which is a single-seat, single-engine, lightweight, high-agility supersonic fighter aircraft. The LCA TEJAS can speed upto Mach 1.4 and is capable of carrying assorted weapon load along with dropping tanks up to four tons. It has some of the latest avionics and digital flight control systems. The Tejas, presently is powered by American General Electric Engine. The HAL TEJAS is designed with a single vertical fin  with no tailplanes or foreplanes and has a delta wi...

Eurofighter Typhoon vs Dassault Rafale

Eurofighter Typhoon is one of the worlds most advanced new generation multi-role/swing-role combat aircraft available on the market. With 707 aircraft ordered by six nations (Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Austria and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), and in service with all nations, the aircraft is Europe’s largest military collaborative program. Eurofighter Typhoon is the only fighter to offer wide-ranging operational capabilities whilst at the same time delivering unparalleled fleet effectiveness. When the RAFALE program was launched, the Armée de l’Air and the Marine Nationale (the French Air Force and the French Navy) published a joint requirement for a balanced multirole aircraft that would be able to replace seven types of combat aircraft then in use. Versatile and best in all categories of missions, the RAFALE is a true “force multiplier” This is what Dassault Aviation says about their pride and joy and it’s really interesting since they put too much emphasis on...
SPECTRA (Système de Protection et d’Évitement des Conduites de Tir du Rafale) is a integrated defensive aids suite for Dassault Rafale developed by Thales Group. Modern air warfare pose a different challenge on aircraft self-defense capabilities. SPECTRA provides complete automated system directly integrated into the Rafale. SPECTRA ensures efficient electromagnetic detection, laser warning, IR detection for missile warning, jamming and chaff/flare dispensing, even in the most demanding multi-threats environment. SPECTRA is divided into different modules and sensors strategically positioned throughout the airframe to provide all-round coverage. The latest advances in micro-electronic technology have led to a new system which is much lighter, more compact and less demanding than its ancestors in terms of electrical and cooling powers. All elements of the Thales SPECTRA system are built into the airframe, have high levels of automation and system integration. SPECTRA include...