A recent and most modern acquisition of the Indian Air Force from the United States, the C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft, crashed on Friday near Gwalior, killing all five IAF personnel on board.

The wreckage of the aircraft was strewn along the Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan border, near Karauli district, about 165 km from Jaipur. Those killed in the crash are Wing Commander Prashant Joshi, Wing Commander Raji Nair, Squadron Leader Kaushik Mishra, Squadron Leader Ashish Yadav (navigator) and Warrant Officer Krishnapal Singh (flight engineer), IAF officers said.

“One C-130J aircraft of the IAF crashed 72 miles west of the Gwalior airbase,” defence spokesperson Col. S.D. Goswami told The Hindu in Jaipur. “The aircraft took off from Agra at 10 a.m. for a routine flying training mission. A court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident,” Col. Goswami said.