Another MiG-21 fighter crashes in Kashmir, pilot ejects safely

A MIG-21 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed on Monday morning in the Soibugh area of Budgam District.

The aircraft crashed minutes after take off from the IAF airfield in Srinagar.

A defence spokesman said the MiG-21 of 51 Squadron crashed at around 10:59 am, but there was no loss of life reported in the incident. According to officials, both the pilot and a co-pilot on board managed to eject safely prior to the crash.

He said a Court of Inquiry (CoI) has been ordered to investigate into the cause of the accident.

A MiG-21 jet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district during a training excursion.

People near the AIF aircraft crash site at Soibugh.

The pilot of the Mig-21 Bison of IAF managed to eject safely and was subsequently helped by the villagers before being rescued by the search parties.

This is not the first incident of an army plane crash. Official data reveals that more than half the country’s fleet of 872 MiGs, which have been nicknamed “flying coffins”, have been lost to crashes over the last four decades. Two Indian Air Force personnel were killed and two civilians injured in these accidents.