The IAF MiG-21 aircraft crashed in Bikaner district on Friday. (ANI) The IAF MiG-21 aircraft crashed in Bikaner district on Friday. (ANI)

An Indian Air Force MiG aircraft crashed in Rajasthan’s Bikaner district on Friday, an official told news agency PTI. Bikaner SP Pradeep Mohan Sharma told the news agency that the pilot ejected safely before the MiG-21 aircraft, which was on a routine mission, crashed in Shoba Sar ki Dhani area.

While initial inputs suggest bird hit to be the likely cause, a court of inquiry (CoI) will probe the cause of the incident.



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Today afternoon a MiG-21 aircraft on a routine mission crashed after getting airborne from Nal near Bikaner. Pilot of the aircraft ejected safely. Initial inputs suggest a bird hit. CoI will be investigating the cause of the accident.@PMOIndia @nsitharaman @PIB_India @IAF_MCC — Defence Spokesperson (@SpokespersonMoD) March 8, 2019

The Bikaner SP said the MIG aircraft crashed in Shobhasar ki Dhani, 12 km from Bikaner city. He added that following the incident, police teams rushed the spot to cordon off the area. No loss of life was reported.

This comes a week after a Mi-17 chopper crashed in an open field near Garend Kalan village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam. One civilian and six IAF personnel were killed in the incident.

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