Agencies
New Delhi, July 28:
An Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter aircraft crashed in Rajasthan’s Barmer district on Thursday evening in which both pilots died, district collector Lok Bandu said. “It was an IAF plane that crashed near Bhimda village in Baytoo,” Bandu said.
He said he was on the way to the site of the incident.
People familiar with the matter said defence minister Rajnath Singh spoke to IAF chief VR Chaudhari and enquired about the crash. He has been apprised of the matter by the IAF chief.
The debris of the aircraft was found scattered in the village in Barmer district.
The IAF got its first single-engine MiG-21 in 1963, and it progressively inducted 874 variants of the Soviet-origin supersonic fighters to bolster its combat potential. But more than 400 MiG-21s have been involved in accidents that have claimed the lives of around 200 pilots during the last six decades.
