AHMEDABAD, FEB 15

In yet another mishap, a MiG-21 jet fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed in the marshlands in Kutch near the Indo-Pak border today. But the pilot bailed out safely.

The fighter crashed minutes after taking off from the Bhuj airbase, on a routine training sortie. The fighter crashed to the ground just 20 km away from the base, an IAF official said.

The Pilot Flight Lieutenant S Agashe, however, managed to bail out and was rescued and brought back to base.

The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry to probe the incident.

This is the first crash of a MiG-21 this year. So far during the last ten years about 90 fighter planes have crashed.

The fighters are ageing and are on the verge of being phased out. IAF has recently completed upgrade of 125 of these fighters with Russian and Israeli know how.

courtesy : outlookindia.com