Indian Air Force 'Bison' MiG-21 crashes in Rajasthan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, May 27, IRNA -- Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-21 'Bison' plane crashed near Jodhpur city in Rajasthan state, Wednesday. The pilot ejected safely.
The fighter aircraft, which had taken off for a routine sortie from the Jodhpur airbase, crashed on a barren stretch land in a village near Jodhpur city in Rajasthan state.
There was no damage on the ground, police sources said.
This is the third IAF fighter aircraft accident in less than a month, the previous mishaps being that of MiG-27 fighter aircraft, which also crashed near here on May 15, and the one involving Sukhoi-30MKI air superiority fighter which crashed near Jaisalmer on April 30.
With this MiG-21 crash, the IAF has lost this year five aircraft, the first being a Kiran-MKII of the Surya Kiran aerobatics team in Bidar on January 21 followed by an unmanned aerial vehicle mishap the same day in Hashimara.
The IAF has been one of the largest users of the MiG-21 since its initial employment of the plane in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 and later Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
The MiG-21 is a single-engined jet fighter aircraft capable of supersonic flight, designed and built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union.
Some 50 countries over four continents have flown the MiG-21, and it still serves many nations a half century after its maiden flight.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
