NEW DELHI – Although an investigation into the incident is ongoing,preliminary reports indicate that the fighter jet experienced a bird strikemid-air. Both pilots survived by successfully ejecting.
Local broadcaster GOA 365 has published footage showing an Indian MiG-29Kfalling from the sky with one of its engines on fire. The jet crashed neara church in the village of Verna, Goa state.
The jet’s right engine malfunctioned soon after it took offlinkfromthe INS HANSA naval air station at Dabolim for a training mission.[image: Loading video]
While the exact cause of the incident is still unclear, the preliminaryversion is that the jet suffered a bird strike, despite the plane having acertain degree of protection against alien objects entering the engineinlets.
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[image: An Indian Air Force (IAF) MIG-21 passes near Sukhoi-30 fighter jetsbefore a drill for Air Force Day celebrations in Kalikunda IAF airbasearound 170 km west of Kolkata on September 29, 2011]
The MiG Corporation, which produced the jet, has expressed readiness tohelp with the investigation of the incident, adding that it doesn’t haveany specific information on the matter except that both pilots successfullyejected and survived.