Click to play videoNew Delhi: A MiG-23 fighter trainer crashed on Monday shortly after take-off from the Hashmira airbase in Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal.
Both pilots -- Wing Commander Sisodia and Flight Lieutenant Karthik -- ejected safely and there were no reports of damage to life or property on the ground either.
The crash happened near Alipurduar in north Bengal.
The two pilots were on a training sortie on the twin-seater jet and took off at 1220 hrs IST. Within 15 minutes of take-off, the duo complained of trouble and the aircraft crashed at 1236 hours, IAF sources said.
"MiG-23 trainer aircraft of IAF crashed near Air Force Station Hashimara today. The aircraft had got airborne from Hashimara air base and was on a routine training-flying mission. The pilots ejected safely. The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry into the cause of the mishap," an IAF official was quoted as saying by PTI in New Delhi.
Alipurduar Additional Superintendent of Police Sabyasachi Mishra said the aircraft crashed at Nararthali area in his jurisdiction with the debris hitting a 'kutcha' house, setting it on fire.
The occupants of the house were working in the fields at the time. The debris of the fighter jet was scattered over a radius of two km. A search was on for the aircraft's black box.
This is the Indian Air Force's (IAF) seventh crash of the year with six of them of the MiG series.
As the IAF was dogged problems with the MiG fighters, IAF lost MiG-21s from Bhuj, Bagdogra and Chabua in Assam in the crashes on February 15, May 23 and November 12 respectively this year. A MiG-27 based in Hashimara was lost on January 31.
(With inputs from PTI)
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