NEW DEHLI: At least two people were killed after a Russian-made MiG-21 military aircraft crashed into a house on Monday in the western state of Rajasthan, police said.
“Pilot has been rescued safely. The MiG crashed into a house, killing two people. Three people have been injured badly in the incident,” Sudhir Chaudhary police officer, told AFP.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) also confirmed the crash, saying the pilot was ejected. The IAF tweeted, “An aircraft MiG-21 of the IAF crashed this morning near Suratgarh during a routine training sortie. The pilot safely evacuated, suffering only minor injuries. An investigation has been started to identify the cause of the accident.”
While on a training mission, two pilots died in a MiG-21 crash in Rajasthan in July 2022. Since January 2021, six MiG-21 aircraft have crashed, killing five pilots in total. The first MiG-21 aircraft entered Indian service in the 1960s and were the backbone of the nation’s air force for many years.
The aircraft has acquired the “flying coffin” title because of its poor safety record, resulting from multiple recent crashes. In Jammu and Kashmir last week, an army chopper with three passengers on board crashed.
During training south of the capital of New Delhi, two fighter jets of the Indian Air Force crashed, killing one pilot and injuring two others. It involved a French-built Mirage 2000 and a Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft constructed in Russia. Last October, a helicopter carrying five army personnel crashed in Arunachal Pradesh, near China’s militarized and contentious frontier.
Weeks after a Cheetah helicopter crashed near Tawang, killing its pilot, it was the second military helicopter crash in the state that month. General Bipin Rawat, the head of India’s defence, was one among 13 individuals who were killed in December 2021 when a Russian-built Mi-17 helicopter carrying him to an air force base crashed.
