Indian Air Force Mig-21 crashes in Barmer, 2 pilots killed
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, March 22, IRNA
India-MiG-Crash
Two pilots were killed when an Indian Air Force Mig-21 fighter plane crashed just after takeoff at around 1630 hours (Indian Standard Time) Tuesday in Barmer district of Rajasthan.
The plane, which took off from Barmer's Uttarlai airbase, crashed immediately after take-off. It was engulfed in fire before it crashed, media reports said.
Tarun Singha, public relations officer (PRO) of the South-Western Command here, informed that two pilots were steering the plane and while the body of one of the pilots had been found the second body was still lying amidst the fire that engulfed the plane.
The Air Force has ordered an inquiry into the incident.
The ill-fated aircraft was one of the older versions which are progressively being phased out.
Another MiG-21 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed on January 17 this year at the Jamnagar firing range, but the pilot safely ejected before the accident.
Besides those two incidents, an indigenous Kiran Mark II trainer aircraft the Surya Kiran aerobatics team crashed last Saturday, killing both pilots on board.
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