Another Indian Army Mirage 2000 crashes in Gwalior, pilot killed
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, Nov 10, IRNA -- An Indian Air Force (IAF) Mirage 2000 fighter caught fire and crashed Tuesday night in the forests of Barsota, 75 kilometers from Gwalior, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, some 15 minutes after take-off. Squadron leader Sanjiv Sharma, public relations officer of the Indian Air Force, told IRNA on telephone Wednesday morning that the Mirage 2000 was on a routine practice sortie and took off at 20:30 hours from Gwalior air base. The pilot, Neehar Gaurani, died in the accident. He said 15 minutes after taking off, the Mirage lost radar and RT contact. The wreckage was seen 50 kilometers northeast of Gwalior base, he added. There was no damage to life and property in the civilian areas, he said, adding that a court of inquiry has been ordered to probe the incident. It was the fourth Mirage to go down in two months. French-made Mirage 2000s, inducted into the Indian Air Force in 1987, are the frontline aircraft of the IAF and have had very safe flying records. This is the seventh Indian crash and the third involving the Mirage in the past three weeks. On Oct 12, a Mirage aircraft, which left the Gwalior airbase for a practice interception sortie, crashed after developing the same problem. A Mirage 2000 crashed during training sorties just two months after induction. This first crash occurred during an Air Force Day airshow here over Palam technical area in 1988, killing its pilot wing commander Joe Bakshi. Another aircraft crashed over the Gwalior airbase in 1994. On Oct 12, another aircraft, which left the Gwalior airbase for a practice interception sortie crashed after developing the same problem. Mirage 2000s played a crucial role during the 1999 Kargil war and the IAF is in the process of acquiring 125 upgraded Mirage 2000-5 version of the fighters. 2160/2321/1432
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