MiG-27 fighter jet crashes in Jodhpur, pilots safe

JODHPUR: It was at about 11.30 am when a MiG-27 upgrade aircraft on a routine mission sortie crashed in the residential area of Mahavir Nagar, Kudi Housing Board. While the pilot, Flying Officer Kandpal, ejected safely, seconds before the aircraft crashed, there was no loss to the human lives at the spot.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.The aircraft crashed into a vacant plot after hitting the wall of a house. While the aircraft could be seen completely damaged, everybody in the house escaped unhurt. The site of crash is hardly eight km from the Air Force base in Jodhpur where the aircraft took off.ADM I Arun Kumar Hasija confirmed that there were no civilian casualties while the area was cordoned off immediately. Local SHO, Basni, Rajesh Yadav said that in addition to the fire tender of the IAF, even the local tenders rushed to the spot and that the fire was brought under control, easily and within minutes.Meanwhile, the Defence PRO Lt. Col. Manish Ojha said that the aircraft which crashed had got airborne from Jodhpur Air Base and was on a routine training sortie. He said that a Court of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate into the reasons of the accident. District officials who reached the spot said that scant fuel in the aircraft helped in controlling the fire easily.It was in January 2015 that 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.