NEW DELHI – A MiG 21 fighter jet of the Indian Air Force crashed in Kangradistrict of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, killing the pilot, SquadronLeader Meet Kumar, the IAF said.
The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry into the crash.
The aircraft had taken off from the Pathankot air base on a routing sortieat 12:20 pm. It crashed around 1:20 pm in Patta Jattian village in Jawali,around 70 km from Dharamshala.
“No loss of civilian life or damage to property has been reported in theincident as the plane crashed into the agricultural fields,” Kangra’sSuperintendent of police of Kangra Santosh Patial said.
The pilot was initially thought to be missing. Two IAF helicopters landedat the crash site soon after the accident for search operations andon-the-spot investigation.
Patta Jatian residents were first to report the crash to authorities. “Weheard a deafening sound and rushed out of our houses and saw smoke arisingout of agricultural fields near our village,” said villager Hem Singh.
Other eyewitnesses claimed that the plane exploded in the air beforecrashing into the fields.
The debris of the aircraft were spread over an area of two squarekilometers.
Wednesday’s accident comes less than two months after another MiG 21crashed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district on May 27. That crash tookilled the pilot.
The ageing MiG 21 aircraft, once the workhorse of IAF were later dubbedflying coffins after a spurt in crashes. The aircraft was inducted into theIAF in 1963.