A SU-30 plane, the frontline fighter jet of IAF, crashed near Barmer in Rajasthan on Wednesday during a routine training sortie. The two pilots, however, managed to eject safely before the twin-seater plane went down. The mandatory court of inquiry was ordered to ascertain the cause of mishap.
A PTI report from Jaipur said three villagers were injured in the crash that took place near Shivkar village in Sadar police station areas. The police were informed about the mishap by village folk at about 2.50 pm following which police and officials from the local administration rushed to the spot along with IAF officials. Sources said the likely time of accident was 2.00 pm near Uttar lai air base in Barmer.
Some of the thatched houses in the hamlets were also damaged, they said.
This is the seventh crash involving SU-30 jets since they were inducted into the IAF in early 2000s. At present, the IAFA has more than 230 SU-30s and the plan is to have a total fleet of 272 jets in the next two years. While the initial lot of planes were procured from Russia while others were manufactured in Hindustan Aeronautics limited (HAl) under transfer of technology pact.
The last crash took place in Tezpur, Assam in May 2015 and both the pilots then also ejected safely. The entire fleet of SU-30s was then grounded for some days for engineering checks.
As many as 22 fighter aircraft have crashed since 2013-14 and human error and technical defects were the main reasons for the accidents, the Government informed the Rajya Sabha. The details were given by Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre in a written reply on Tuesday.
In the current year, five fighter jets have crashed against four in 2015-16. He said seven jets had crashed in 2014-15 while the number was six in 2013-14.