MiG-21 Trainer plane crashes in Gwalior; pilots eject safely
An Air Force MiG 21 Trainer aircraft crashed in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday morning. There is no news of any casualty in this accident. In time, both pilots, including a group captain and squadron leader, have managed to get out safely. Official sources said that the aircraft was on a regular training flight which crashed near Gwalior airbase around 10 am. The Indian Air Force has ordered a court of inquiry into the incident. An officer of Colonel rank has been entrusted with the responsibility of investigating this accident.
Just a week ago, DRDO’s Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) accident occurred in Chitradurga, Karnataka. It was being tested at DRDO’s test range, Chailkere Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga district. Not only this, the Air Force Sukhoi-30 aircraft crashed in Tezpur, Assam a month ago. Both pilots survived safely in this accident. It is said that the Su-30 aircraft was on a regular training flight at the time of the accident.
It is worth mentioning that there have been many accidents in the Indian Air Force fleet with MiG aircraft in the past. In March this year, the MiG-21 Bison fighter plane of the Indian Air Force crashed in Bikaner, Rajasthan. However, even in this accident, the pilot jumped from the parachute before the plane crashed. In the same month, the MiG-27 UPG plane crashed in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, in which the pilot saved his life by ejecting on time.
The Supreme Court made a very strong comment on a petition filed in February for the accidents of the IAF fighter jets. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court had said that the Mirage aircraft of the Air Force are very old which are likely to crash. However, the petition was rejected by the Supreme Court warning the petitioner to pay a fine. The petition demanded a judicial inquiry under the supervision of the Supreme Court.
