MIG-27 fighter aircraft crashes, 7 civilians injured

Jodhpur, May 15 (PTI) A MIG-27 fighter aircraft crashed
in a village near here in India's northern part Friday,
injuring six labourers and a child on the ground.

The MiG-27 pilot, identified as Squadron Leader P Dhawan,
ejected out of the cockpit safely just before the aircraft
crashed between 8.10 hours and 8.20 hours IST in Konkani
village in Luni, about 40 kms from here, Defence PRO Lt Col N
N Joshi said.

The aircraft crashed into an under construction house in
a field in a small hamlet in Salawas village of Luni, Joshi
said.

The plane, which was on a routine training sortie,
crashed soon after take off from the Jodhpur airbase, an IAF
spokesperson said in New Delhi. The IAF has ordered a probe
into the crash, the spokesperson added.

Jodhpur SP (Rural) Sharat Kaviraj said seven persons,
including a two-year-old child, were injured in the incident.

This is the second IAF fighter aircraft crash in as many
weeks, the previous mishap being that of a sophisticated
Su-30MKI air superiority fighter near Jaisalmer on April 30.

This year alone, the IAF has lost four aircraft, the
first being a Surya Kiran Aerobatics Team's Kiran-MkII in
Bidar on January 21, followed by an unmanned aerial vehicle
crash the same day in Hashimara. The last MiG-27 crash
had taken place in Hashimara on January 31 last year.(MORE)
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