A Sukhoi aircraft of the Indian Air Force on Wednesday crashed in Rajasthan's Barmer district, leaving three villagers injured, the sixth such plane mishap in the last one year.
Both pilots ejected safely from the plane.
"The Sukhoi aircraft crashed near Barmer while on a routine training sortie. Both the pilots ejected safely," Defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha said.
Additional SP Barmer Rameswhar Lal said the crash occurred near Shivkar village in Sadar police station area.
The police were informed about the incident at around 2.50 pm following which policemen and officials from the district administration rushed to the spot. IAF officials also reached the spot.
Three villagers received injuries in the incident and have been admitted in the district hospital.
The injured were identified as Narayan Ram, his daughter-in-law Dalluram and 14-year old-grandson Hanumanram. Their condition is stated to be stable, SHO Kotwali Bhanwar Lal said.
Some of the thatched houses in the hamlets were damaged in the incident, Circle Officer Barmer O P Ujjawal said.
In a separate incident related to IAF aircraft, a Chetak helicopter crash landed in the Kaushambi district in UP minutes after it took off from an airbase on the outskirts of the city this morning.
No casualties were reported in the incident.
On Tuesday, in a written reply to a member's question Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre had said that in the current year, five fighter jets have crashed against four in 2015-16.
He said seven jets had crashed in 2014-15 while the number was six in 2013-14.
"Main reasons for these accidents were human error and technical defect," the minister had said.
Bhamre said every accident is throughly investigated by a Court of Inquiry to ascertain cause of the accident and recommendations of the CoI are implemented.
IMAGE: The crash site of the Sukhoi fighter aircraft. Photograph: ANI