On May 8, 2023 An Indian Air Force MiG-21 fighter aircraft crashed near Hanumangarh in Rajasthan during its routine morning sortie. The aircraft had taken off from Suratgarh Air Force Station in Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar district. While the pilot ejected safely from the incident, the deaths of four civilians were confirmed by the local police as the plane crashed. According to sources, the pilot is safe and an army helicopter has reached the crash site for rescue. Local police said three women and a man were killed, all from the same housing complex.
Earlier in January 2023, a pilot lost his life after two Indian Air Force fighter jets – a Sukhoi Su-30 and a Mirage 2000 – crashed during a training exercise at Bharatpur in Rajasthan. While one plane crashed in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena, the other one crash-landed in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur.
A MiG-21 aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed near Suratgarh during a routine training sortie this morning. The pilot ejected safely, sustaining minor injuries.
An inquiry has been set up to find out the cause of the accident.– Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) May 8, 2023
Last week, an Indian Army helicopter crashed in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. Another accident occurred in Kochi in April when a Coast Guard helicopter made a crash landing during a trial run. This March, a Navy chopper in Mumbai had “abandoned” after performing VVIP duty.
In October last year, two incidents of army helicopter crashes were reported in Arunachal Pradesh. On October 5, 2022, a Cheetah helicopter crashed near Tawang area of Arunachal Pradesh, killing an Indian Army pilot.
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Exactly a fortnight later, five defense personnel were killed, who were on board a Likabali (Assam) based Indian Army Aviation Advanced Light Helicopter (Weapon System Integrated) – ALH WSI, which crashed near Siang village, 25 km from Tooting. Headquartered in Arunachal’s Upper Siang district on 21 October.
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Earlier on July 28 last year, the Defense Ministry had informed that two pilots were killed in a twin-seater MiG-21 trainer aircraft that crashed near Rajasthan’s Barmer district.