IAF's MiG-21 crashes in Himachal Pradesh, pilot dead

An Indian Air Force's MiG-21 fighter jet has crashed in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.

According to initial reports, the MiG-21 aircraft took off from Pathankot air base in Punjab. and crashed sometime after 1pm.

The fighter jet crashed in Mehra Palli village under the Jawali police station, Kangra Superintendent of Police (SP) Santosh Patial said.

As per agency sources, the pilot of the jet has died.



MiG-21 BIS is one of the oldest variants of this jet.

Season of aircraft crashes
On June 8, Indian Air Force's 'Jaguar' developed a snag while landing and had a minor accident. The pilot was on a routine training mission from the Jamnagar Air Force base.

On June 5, Air Commodore Sanjay Chauhan passed away after his plane went down in the Mundra taluk of the Kutch region in northwestern Gujarat. This was the second alarming incident in the month of June 2018 with an Indian Air Force Jaguar.

Slew of crashes
Before these two successive Jaguar crashes, an IAF Cheetah helicopter crash landed at Natha Top in Jammu and Kashmir on May 23. The helicopter, too, was on a routine sortie and a court of inquiry was ordered.

On March 20 this year, an Advanced Hawk Jet (AJT) trainer, crashed on the Subarnarekha River bed along Jharkhand and Odisha's border.

(With PTI inputs)