New Delhi, July 09: Including the Jaguar fighter plane that crashed in Churu, Rajasthan on Wednesday, five Air Force planes have crashed so far this year. 3 Jaguar jets have crashed in just 4 months. These incidents raise serious concerns about the old Jaguar fleet and its operational safety.
It is believed that the plane that crashed in Churu is the Darin-III upgraded variant. Apart from this, fighter aircraft Mirage and transport aircraft AN-32 have also crashed this year.
The first incident of Air Force fighter plane crash this year took place near Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh. Mirage-2000, which took off for routine flying on February 6 from Gwalior Air Base, crashed. This aircraft was the trainer version of Mirage. In this incident, both the pilots ejected safely.
On 7 March this year, two Air Force plane accidents occurred. One incident happened in Haryana and the other in Bagdogra, West Bengal. In Haryana, Jaguar had to face an accident after a technical fault. This aircraft took off from Ambala Air Base. Shortly after the flight, the fighter plane crashed near Panchkula. The pilot showed prudence and took the plane away from the populated area and crashed it, due to which there was no loss of life or property.
On the same day, Indian Air Force’s transport aircraft AN-32 crashed during emergency landing in Bagdogra, West Bengal. No one was harmed in this accident. All the crew members escaped unhurt. The Russian-made medium lift tactical aircraft Antonov-32 (AN-32) was inducted in the early 80s and about 100 aircraft are in service with the Air Force. The fourth plane crash of this year took place on April 2, when a twin-seater fighter jet Jaguar crashed in Jamnagar, Gujarat, killing one pilot and injuring another.
The two-seater Jaguar aircraft was taking off for a night mission at 10.20 pm from Jamnagar airfield. During this time, the pilots faced a technical glitch and they took the initiative to take the plane out of the populated area, so that there is no damage to the airfield and the local people. During this, pilot Flight Lieutenant Siddharth Yadav died, while the other pilot had to be admitted to a hospital in Jamnagar. The Air Force has ordered a Court of Inquiry to find out the causes of the accident.
The fifth plane crash of this year took place today in Churu, Rajasthan, where both the pilots suffered serious injuries when a Jaguar jet crashed. The Indian Air Force has 6 squadrons of Jaguar deep penetration strike fighter. Jaguar is mainly used for ground attack and tactical attacks.
The Air Force said in a statement that a Jaguar trainer aircraft crashed during a routine training mission near Churu in Rajasthan today. Both the pilots suffered serious injuries in the accident. There is no damage to any civilian property. A Court of Inquiry has been constituted to ascertain the cause of the accident.