IAF plane crashes near Deoria village in Jodhpur, pilot safe

NEW DELHI: An Indian Air Force IAF ) MiG-27 plane crashed Tuesday near Jodhpur in Rajasthan during a routine mission. The pilot ejected safely.The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry into the crash . The IAF still has two squadrons of the aging MiG-27 fighter planes that are slated for retirement next year.In June, a MiG-27 upgrade aircraft on a routine mission sortie crashed in the residential area in Jodhpur. In that crash, the pilot, Flying Officer Kandpal, ejected safely, seconds before the aircraft crashed, and there was no loss to the human lives at the site of the crash. Two houses and a vehicle parked nearby suffered major damages. The aircraft crashed barely 50 metres from the spot where the pilot himself had a narrow brush with death while ejecting out over an electric transformer in the local Bhaironath temple.Last November, another IAF MiG-27 fighter plane’s tyre burst while landing, after which it got stuck on the runway at Jodhpur airport.“The incident involves a MiG-27. While landing, the aircraft’s tyre burst and there was some problem with its landing gear. As a result, the plane’s nozzle hit the ground. It is taking longer than expected to remove the aircraft from the runway,” said a source at the time.In January 2015, a MiG-27 fighter jet on a routine sortie from the Jodhpur air base to Uttarlai crashed in Rajasthans Barmer while a fraction of it fell on a passing motorcyclist. The injured young man Loon Singh was on his way to a village to distribute invitations for his wedding. The pilot even in this case had ejected out safely.