An MiG-27 UPG fighter aircraft of the Air Force crashed in Jodhpur on Sunday morning. The pilot has ejected safely.

“The aircraft took off from Air Force Station Uttarlai in Rajasthan at 1127 hrs on Sunday for a routine sortie. It crashed at 1145 hrs, approximately 120 km south of Jodhpur,” the IAF said in a statement.

“The pilot ejected safely and has been recovered by search and rescue helicopter. The pilot is safe and preliminary investigations have revealed no damage to any person or property on the ground,” the statement added. The pilot had reported engine problems before ejecting. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident.

The IAF has suffered a series of accidents in the last month and the MiG-27 fleet, too, saw several accidents this year. The last of the Russian-origin jets are in the process of being phased out.

Last month, a MiG-27 that took off on a training mission from Jaisalmer crashed near the Pokhran range in Rajasthan. In September 2018, another MiG-27 crashed in an open area in Deolia Kalan village in the Jodhpur district. The pilots ejected safely in both the instances.

High casualty

The IAF has lost at least 10 personnel in crashes this year. As India and Pakistan were engaged in aerial combat last month a day after the Balakot air strike, a Mi-17 helicopter crashed in the Budgam district of Jammu & Kashmir killing all six personnel on board and a civilian on the ground.

Preliminary investigation indicate that it was shot down by ground-based air defence systems of the IAF in a case of mistaken fire.

Just ahead of the Aero India in Bengaluru in February this year, two Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers practising aerobatics crashed into each other, killing one pilot.