A trainer aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha on Tuesday. But the pilot of the plane managed to eject safely by parachute before the Hawk aircraft crashed.
The trainee pilot sustained minor injuries in the mishap. later, the pilot was rescued by local people, who then rushed him to the Bahadaguda hospital in the neighbouring State of Jharkhand.
Sources said the plane crashed at the Subarnarekha river’s Topa Ghat area of Mahultangiri village near Jharpokharia in Mayurbhanj district. The aircraft had taken off from the Kalaikunda Air Force station in West Bengal. Some locals at Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj district claimed to have spotted smoke emitting out of the plane.
A high-level team of experts from Kalaikunda later visited the spot in a helicopter to ascertain the facts and causes of the incident.
Earlier in 2015, Hawk A-3492 had also crashed in a paddy field in Mayurbhanj district.