NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
A MiG-23 aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed in Moga district of Punjab on Wednesday morning.
According to an officer of the New Delhi-based Western Air Command, no casualty has been reported, with the pilot making a safe ejection. The plane is believed to have crashed in the SK firing ranges near Halwara.
The jet, piloted by Flight Lieutenant Bharat Kumar, took off at around 7.30 hours on a routine exercise. "Sometime later it crashed", the officer said.
He said it is too early to predict what went wrong with the jet.
The air force has ordered a probe into the incident.
This is the first crash of a MiG-23 this financial year. Last year, three MiG-23s had crashed.
Inducted in 1981, the MIG-23s are air superiority fighters used in ground attack roles. The IAF has two squadrons of the aircraft.
ALSO READ MiG crashes in Jalandhar commercial centre, 8 killed IAF suspects engine in MiG-21 crashes IAF suspends flight training on MIG-21 variant Russian designer blames absence of trainer jets for MiG-21 crashes Condition of nine injured in MiG-21 crash critical MiG crashes in Hoshiarpur district, woman killed MiG crashes near LoC IAF plane crashes in Sangrur district
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report