Sukhoi-30 crashes in Assam's Nagaon district, pilots bail out safely

Tezpur: A Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft today crashed at Laokhowa in Nagaon district of Assam with both the pilot and co-pilot ejecting safely.[caption id=“attachment_127653” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  An IAF Sukhoi SU-30 takes off at Aero India 2011 in Bangalore on 11 February 2011. Image courtesy PIB[/caption] The Su-30 fighter aircraft, flying from Tezpur’s Salanibari Air Force station on a routine sortie, lost connection with the radar at the airforce station at around 12.30 pm and crashed thereafter, a defence spokesman said in Tezpur. The aircraft had developed a technical problem and the pilot was forced to abandon the aircraft, he said. Both the pilots ejected safely and the aircraft crashed at Laokhowa near Tezpur. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident, the spokesman said. The Sukhoi-30, which is the latest aircraft in the IAF stable of fighter jets, has a reasonably good safety record. In 2011-12, one Sukhoi-30 MK1 crashed, in 2012-13 another one did while in 2013-14 the aircraft saw no accidents. However, there was one more crash in the 2014-15 period. In November last year, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had informed Lok Sabha that the main reasons for the crashes were human error and technical defect. The country also spends a whopping amount in repairs and maintenance of Sukhoi-30. According to information given to Rajya Sabha by Parrikar in December last year, in 2011-12, the IAF had spent Rs 551.35 crore, in 2012-13 it had spent Rs 877.84 while in 2013-14, the exchequer had to bear Rs 834.76 crore for keeping the Sukhoi-30 squadrons in battle-ready conditions. With PTI input