NEW DELHI – An Indian Air Force Jaguar fighter jet crashed shortly aftertakeoff in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, January 28, media reported.
The pilot ejected safely, PTI reportedlinkIAFsources as saying.
The aircraft had taken off from Gorakhpur Air Force Station on a routinemission and crashed in the Hatempur area of Kushinagar district.
“Today [Monday] morning, a Jaguar aircraft while on a routine mission fromGorakhpur, crashed. Pilot ejected safely. A court of Inquiry has beenordered to investigate the accident,” the IAF said in a statement, accordinglinktoANI.
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It was not immediately clear what caused the SEPECAT Jaguar to crash.The Indian Air Force has an active fleet of around 150 Jaguars, mostlyinducted in the early 1980s. Designed in Europe in the 1960s and 70s, 120were built link in India byHindustan Aeronautics Limited and are known as Shamsher – “Sword ofJustice.”
More than 30 fighter aircraft have crashed in India since 2012, with mostaccidents blamed on ageing jets. More than 170 Air Force pilots have diedin accidents in the past three decades, mostly in incidents involvingSoviet-era aircraft.
