MiG-21 trainer aircraft crashes in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior, both pilots ejected safely

A Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 trainer aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed near Gwalior airbase in Madhya Pradesh on 25 September. However, both the pilots including a group captain and a squadron leader were able to eject safely. [caption id=“attachment_959739” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The aircraft was on a routine training mission from the Gwalior airbase when the crash occurred at around 10 am soon after taking off around 10 kilometres from the Air Force station Maharajpur, IAF officials said. PTI quoted Rudolf Alvares, Bhind Superintendent of Police, as saying that “the two pilots ejected safely, according to the information passed to us from the village head from the spot, some 60 kilometres from the district headquarters”. The IAF has set up a Court of Inquiry (CoI) to investigate the reasons behind the crash of the Type 69 trainer used for training on MiG-21 Bison planes. The aircraft was a part of the IAF’s Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) school which is also known as the Top Gun school of the force. This is thought to the 12th IAF crash in this year alone, NDTV reported. Earlier, an IAF Jaguar crashed on 28 January. Few days after the incident on 1 February, a Mirage 2000 came down in Bengaluru. Both the pilots lost their lives in the incident and on 12 February, a MiG-27 crashed in Pokhran. In a similar incident of crash before the beginning of 2019 Aero India show in Bengaluru, two IAF Hawk jets collided midair in which one pilot was killed and while two others were injured. After carrying airstrikes on Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camps inside Pakistan’s Balakot, the IAF lost two aircraft on 27 February. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, flying a MiG-21 Bison, shot down more advanced F-16 fighter jets but was brought down by the Pakistan Air Force. Another Mig-21 Bison was lost after crashing near Bikaner on 8 March while on 31 March, a MiG-27 UPG crashed in Sirohi. With inputs from agencies