Mig-21 aircraft crashed in Rajasthan’s Barmer; 2 IAF pilots died

Two pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) died when their twin-seater Mig-21 trainer place crashed near Barmer in Rajasthan during a training sortie. This plane was airborne from Utarlai air base at 9.10 pm on July 28.

The IAF plane crashed near Bhimda village in Baytoo Block. The village is about 37 kilometres north of district headquarters. When this incident happened, local administration members quickly reached the spot and put out the fire of the plane. Locals had also gathered at the incident location and started the rescue operation. The pilots were killed after a fireball crashing into the ground. The debris was spread over a kilometre in the area. Barmer police team, fire tenders, rescue team and ambulance were rushed to the spot and controlled the situation within time. But the plane was completely destroyed in fire and unfortunately both pilots were burnt alive.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed condolences for the two Air Warriors who lost their lives in the accident. According to the IAF, Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. The MiG-21 is India’s longest-serving fighter plane. Nowadays, the ration of aircraft accidents is increasing. Earlier, in the month of March, one pilot died in the MiG-21 Bison crash after taking off from the Gwalior airbase. Around 42 defence personnel were killed in these services in the last five years. The total number of air accidents in the last five years was 45 out of which 29 involved IAF's platforms. Some accidents took place due to climate, error in weather indicator machine, fuel deficiency, technical problems or sometimes due to pilot mistakes.