Pilot Died In The Collision Of 2 Indian Military Jets

(CTN NEWS) – NEW DELHI – One pilot was killed after two Indian Air Force fighter jets crashed on Saturday (Jan. 28) while participating in training operations south of the nation’s capital New Delhi.

A French-built Mirage 2000 and a Russian-built Sukhoi Su-30, each carrying three pilots, were also involved in the disaster.

Both aircraft had taken out in the morning from the Gwalior air base, about 50 kilometers to the east of where they crashed.

According to a statement from the nation’s air force, “the aircraft was on a routine operational flying training mission,” adding that one of the three pilots had suffered fatal injuries.”

It also stated that an inquiry was being conducted to ascertain the crash’s cause.

Another pilot had been discovered alive but injured in the forests of Padargarh, around 300 kilometers away, police official Dharmender Gaur reported to AFP from the accident site.

The officer announced, “We have identified the debris of one of the planes.” “We have dispatched teams to find the other plane, which is probably farther away from the crash scene.”

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, tweeted that local authorities had been told to help with the air force’s rescue and relief efforts.

He said, “I beg God to keep the plane’s pilots safe.” The most recent crash occurred in a series of aviation mishaps involving India’s military air fleet.

In Arunachal Pradesh state, close to the militarized and contentious border with China, five army troops perished in a helicopter crash in October.

After a Cheetah helicopter crashed in the town of Tawang, killing its pilot, it was the second military helicopter crash in the state that month.

General Bipin Rawat, the head of India’s defense, was among 13 individuals who perished in December 2021 when a Russian-built Mi-17 helicopter carrying him to an air force base crashed.

India’s outmoded military forces must urgently be modernized, a challenge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is currently facing.

The country’s military establishment is concerned about China’s increasing aggressiveness along its huge Himalayan border, which in 2019 prompted a diplomatic standstill following a deadly high-altitude clash between forces of the two nations.

India launched its first aircraft carrier last year to develop a domestic defense sector and lessen reliance on Russia, historically its top source of armaments.

An initiative to change military recruitment to reduce India’s excessive defence budget hit a roadblock last year due to opposition from would-be soldiers who set train cars on fire and engaged in violent protests against the police.

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