A Jaguar fighter aircraft of Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed on Tuesday morning during a training sortie in Chaka area of Allahabad district. Both the pilots ejected safely. This is the second Jaguar crash this year.
The aircraft had taken off at 7:25am from IAF's Central Air Command at Bamrauli on the outskirts of the Allahabad city and crashed at 8.47am in a field close to a Food Corporation of India warehouse at Chaka, about 50km away, IAF and police said, adding there was no casualty.
A court of inquiry had been ordered into the incident.
A huge fire broke out as soon as the aircraft hit the ground and fire brigade was pressed into service. A small part of the wreckage caused minor damage to a boundary wall of one of the buildings, police said.
"Both the pilots had apparently sensed that something was wrong as they ejected before the aircraft came crashing down," additional superintendent of police (trans-Yamuna), Allahabad, Ashutosh Mishra, said.
"Since there were no people nearby, the crash resulted in no injuries. No noticeable damage to property was visible either. A small part of the wreckage went flying off and caused minor damage to a boundary wall of one of the buildings nearby. Both pilots also landed safely," he said.
Fire brigade was pressed into service as the wreckage had caught fire. Locals came rushing to the spot in large numbers after hearing the crash. They did their bit in assisting the fire brigade personnel. The flames were doused after nearly an hour.
"The aircraft has broken into smithereens as a result of the crash," Mishra added.
"A number of IAF personnel also arrived at the spot. They took the two pilots who had a close shave," the Additional SP said.
Defence PRO Group Captain B B Pande had told PTI over phone that the aircraft had taken off from the Civil Aviation Centre at IAF's Central Air Command at Bamrauli on the outskirts of the city for a "routine training exercise".
In March, a Jaguar fighter crashed near Kurukshetra in Haryana. At that time too, the pilot had ejected safely.
Since 2011, this is the fifth crash involving the Jaguar, which is a twin-engine, deep penetration strike aircraft of the IAF.
Earlier this year, so far three more fighter jets of the IAF have crashed.
On May 19, a Sukhoi-30 MKI (Su-30) fighter jet, part of the most modern and frontline aircraft stable of the Indian Air Force (IAF), crashed into thick jungles at Laokhowa in Nagaon district of Assam. Pilot and the weapon system operator ejected safely.
On May 8, a MiG 27 aircraft of the IAF had crashed near Alipurdwar in West Bengal in which too the pilot had ejected safely. Earlier, in January, a MiG27 fighter jet aircraft crashed in Rajasthan's Barmer district. The pilot had ejected safely.
—With inputs from agencies
