Indian Air Force (IAF) Mirage-2000 crashes, pilot safe

A Mirage-2000 fighter plane of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Monday crashed near a village in Rajasthan's Sawai Madhopur district, soon after taking off from an airbase in Gwalior, in a second mishap involving the aircraft type in 11 days.

The pilot managed to eject safely, IAF officials said. This is the second crash involving a Mirage-2000 aircraft since February 24.

"The crash took place 100 kilometres south-west of Jaipur near Baman Baas village in Sawai Madhopur district. Soon after taking off from Gwalior, the plane crashed at 1245 hours. The pilot managed to bail out safely," the officials said.

IAF and Army teams have reached the site of the accident and the pilot is being attended to for his injuries, they said, adding that the aircraft was on a routine sortie.

A court of inquiry (CoI) has been ordered to ascertain the reason for the crash.

Superintendent of police, Sawai Madhopur, Anshuman Singh said a police party had been dispatched to the crash spot which was located in a hilly area.

This is the third crash involving an IAF aircraft this year. A Kiran MK II trainer plane had crashed in Chennai on January 30.

The second crash involving a Mirage-2000 aircraft took place on February 24 near Bhind in Madhya Pradesh.

The aircraft was being flown by Air Marshal Anil Chopra and Wing Commander Ram Kumar who had got airborne from Gwalior airbase for a routine flying sortie at 1201 hours. Within five minutes of taking off, the plane developed a technical snag and crashed in a forested area.


Source: 06 March 2012 - DAILY AIR FORCE NEWS

Photo: Indian Air Force (IAF) Mirage-2000 (Photo by http://static.ibnlive.in.com)

(6.03.2012)