Two Indian Air Force fighter jets – a Sukhoi Su-30 and a Mirage 2000 – crashed during a training exercise earlier today, officials said on Saturday, resulting in the death of one pilot.
Even as one aircraft crashed in Morena in Madhya Pradesh, the other is believed to have gone down 100 km away in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur.
“Two fighter aircraft of IAF were involved in an accident near Gwalior today morning . The aircraft were on routine operational flying training mission. One of the three pilots involved, sustained fatal injuries. An inquiry has been ordered to determine the cause of the accident. (sic),” Indian Air Force tweeted.
The IAF has ordered an inquiry.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was briefed by IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on the crash. Singh enquired about the well-being of the IAF pilots and is monitoring the developments closely.
While giving details of the crash and debris of the two jets getting strewn across several kilometres, sources said the Mirage-2000 crashed near Morena immediately after the collision.