NEW DELHI - An Indian Air Force MiG series fighter jet crashed over the northwestern desert state of Rajasthan on Tuesday killing the pilot, news reports said.
The aircraft, which was on a regular sortie, crashed at Kanod village, about 500 kilometres southwest of Rajasthan capital Jaipur, PTI news agency reported quoting the police.
The Russian-made MiGs, which constitute nearly 70 per cent of India’s fleet, are so accident-prone they have been dubbed “flying coffins” and the air force plans to gradually phase them out. >>
Of the 793 MiG 21 aircraft inducted in the Indian Air Force since 1963, a total of 330 had been lost in accidents, India’s defence minister Pranab Mukherjee informed Parliament recently.Tuesday’s accident was the 10th since April 2005. >>
The accident comes barely four days after two pilots of the air force’s Surya Kiran formation aerobatics team were killed when their plane crashed during a practice session in the southern state of Karnataka on Saturday
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The aircraft, which was on a regular sortie, crashed at Kanod village, about 500 kilometres southwest of Rajasthan capital Jaipur, PTI news agency reported quoting the police.
The Russian-made MiGs, which constitute nearly 70 per cent of India’s fleet, are so accident-prone they have been dubbed “flying coffins” and the air force plans to gradually phase them out.
Of the 793 MiG 21 aircraft inducted in the Indian Air Force since 1963, a total of 330 had been lost in accidents, India’s defence minister Pranab Mukherjee informed Parliament recently.Tuesday’s accident was the 10th since April 2005.
The accident comes barely four days after two pilots of the air force’s Surya Kiran formation aerobatics team were killed when their plane crashed during a practice session in the southern state of Karnataka on Saturday
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