An Indian Navy Mig-29K fighter jet crashed on Wednesday morning off the Goa coast after developing a technical malfunction. The pilot ejected safely and was rescued. A mandatory Board of Inquiry was ordered.
Giving details of the mishap, Navy officials said here the pilot was reported to be in stable condition. "A MiG 29K on a routine sortie over sea off Goa developed a technical malfunction while returning to base. The pilot ejected safely and has been recovered in a swift search and rescue operation," they said.
The MiG-29K is an all-weather aircraft carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft developed by Russian aerospace company Mikoyan (MiG).
The Indian Navy had procured a fleet of 45 MiG-29Ks from Russia over a decade back at a cost of around USD 2 billion (one billion=100 crore) to operate from Russian built INS Vikramaditya.
In November 2020, a MiG-29K aircraft of the Navy crashed into the Arabian Sea off the Goa coast after taking off from aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.
A MiG-29K twin-seat fighter aircraft had crashed in South Goa district in November 2019 and both the pilots had ejected safely. Another MIG-29K crashed into the Arabian Sea off the Goa coast on February 23, 2020 after taking off from INS Hansa, a prominent naval air station at Vasco in Goa. The pilot had managed to eject safely.