GUWAHATI: Two Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots were killed when a microlight aircraft they were flying in crashed in Assam on Thursday.
The two-seater aircraft crashed during a routine sortie near village Sumoimari which is south of Kamalabari in Majuli district, defence sources said.
“It was the IAF’s routine border sortie. Wing Commanders Jaipaul James and B Vats were killed in the incident. The aircraft was burnt completely. Things are being investigated,” AOC Jorhat, Air Commodore SK Verma, told the New Indian Express.
The incident occurred at around 12 noon. The aircraft, which took off from the IAF base at Rowriah in Jorhat district, had developed a technical snag and the pilots apparently tried to land it on a sandbar of the Brahmaputra.
A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.