In one of the worst air mishaps in recent years, two IAF fighter jets — Sukhoi SU-30 MKI and Mirage-2000 — crashed on Saturday morning possibly after a mid-air collision near Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
One pilot died and two other pilots ejected safely. They are undergoing medical treatment. The IAF ordered the mandatory court of inquiry to find out the cause of the accident.
The accident took place at about 5.30 am after the two planes took off from the Gwalior airbase for a routine sortie. The possible collision took place during a simulated combat mission when the jets were flying at speeds of more than 800 km per hour, sources said.
The SU-30 crashed in Morena, Madhya Pradesh, while part of the wreckage of the Mirage was found 100 km away in neighbouring Bharatpur in Rajasthan. The two pilots of the SU-30 ejected safely while the pilot of the Mirage died. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was briefed about the accident by senior IAF officials.
Eyewitnesses said people, who assembled at the site, extricated the two pilots from the thicket and laid them down on the ground till an IAF helicopter arrived and flew them for treatment to Gwalior. Debris from the two aircraft was strewn over an area of 500-800 metres, some four kilometres away from Pahargarh.
The people in the vicinity tried to extinguish the flames engulfing the two aircraft by throwing mud, these eyewitnesses said, adding the area was soon swarming with more than 1,500 residents of 15 villages nearby.
“I was standing with some people here when we heard a massive noise from above, like a powerful bomb blast. We looked up to see balls of fire descending, some of which landed in a forested path here and some in Bharatpur on the other side,” Pahargarh sarpanch Shailendra Shakya told media outlets at the site.
“We saw two parachutes coming down and we waited for 15-20 minutes for the duo to land. However, they fell into the thicket and sustained injuries. We took them out from the bushes and laid them on the ground. While we were talking to the two pilots in uniform, an IAF helicopter arrived and flew them to Gwalior,” said Shakya.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in a tweet said, “The news of the crash of Sukhoi-30 and Mirage-2000 aircraft of the Air Force near Kolaras in Morena is very sad.”
“I have instructed the local administration to cooperate with the Air Force in quick rescue and relief work. I pray to God that the pilots of the planes are safe,” he said.
The IAF said in a statement, “Two fighter aircraft of IAF were involved in an accident near Gwalior today morning.” The two aircrafts were on a routine operational flying training mission. “One of the three pilots sustained fatal injuries. An inquiry has been ordered to determine the cause of the accident,” the IAF said.
While details of the mishap were yet to come out, sources said there was a mid-air collision and the Mirage 2000 crashed immediately after.
The two Sukhoi pilots managed to keep their aircraft in the air despite one of the two engines catching fire. However, they could not regain full control for a safe landing and ejected. The SU-30MKI is a twin-seater while the Mirage 2000 is a single-seater aircraft. The Su-30MKIs are developed by Russia’s JSC Sukhoi company and built under license by India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The Mirage 2000s are manufactured by French defence conglomerate Dassault Aviation.
Eyewitnesses to the crash recounted hearing a deafening sound and sighting balls of fire descending to the ground followed by two persons in uniform parachuting into the thicket nearby, PTI reports from Morena said.
The debris of the two aircraft fell in Pahargarh area here, 75 kilometres from the district headquarters, while some parts also fell in Bharatpur, just across the border in neighbouring Rajasthan.
