NEW DELHI: A MiG-27 aircraft of the Indian Air Force on Monday crashed in a residential area of Jodhpur, however pilots flying the aircraft ejected safely.
The Ministry of defence in an official statement said the crash took place around 11.30 am. There was no loss of lives on the ground. However, a house was partially damaged.
“The aircraft took off from Jodhpur Air Base and was on a routine training-flying sortie. The pilot ejected safely. A Court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate into the accident,” the Ministry said.
This is not the first time that an MiG has crashed. In fact, its vulnerability has earned it the moniker ‘flying coffin’. The government figure that was tabled in Parliament last year revealed that between 2012 and July 2015, 20 fighter aircrafts crashed including 3 Sukhoi, 12 MiG and 5 Jaguar.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had told Parliament that main reasons for the crashes were technical defects and human error. The estimated loss create by 12 accidents was Rs 386 crore.