JAIPUR: A MiG-21 fighter jet of the Indian Air Force crashed on Friday in Bikaner district of Rajasthan. The pilot ejected safely, an IAF official said.
The aircraft had taken off from Nal airbase in Bikaner on a routine mission and crashed near the Shobhasar area, about 12 kilometres from Bikaner city. Air Force officials later reached the spot.
Bikaner Superintendent of Police Pradeep Mohan Sharma said police teams had been sent to the spot and no loss of life had been reported on the ground.
Air Force spokesperson Group Captain Anupam Banerjee said that initial inputs indicated the likely cause of the crash was a bird hit after takeoff but added that a court of inquiry would investigate the cause of the accident.
Villagers in Shobhasar, where the debris of the plane fell, reportedly saw the fighter plane coming down, and the information was given to the administration.
The villagers said that they saw the pilot descending by a parachute.
On February 27, another Mig-21 crashed inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after a dogfight with Pakistani fighter jets that had intruded into Indian airspace.
The pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by Pakistan and later released.