The Indian Air Force has lost yet another one of its Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed fighter jets. The aircraft crashed at around 17:30 local time (09:00 GMT) shortly after taking off from Uttarlai Air Station in Barmer, in the northwest of the country. This is the fourth Indian MiG-21 crash in 2021 alone.
On its Twitter, the IAF said the jet suffered a technical failure shortly after taking off for a training flight, with the pilot ejecting from the aircraft safely. The plane crash is already being investigated by a Court of Inquiry.
At around 1730 hrs today, an IAF MiG-21 Bison aircraft airborne for a training sortie in the western sector, experienced a technical malfunction after take off. The pilot ejected safely.
A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to determine the cause.- Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) August 25, 2021
Rajasthan | IAF's MiG-21 Bison fighter aircraft crashed today in Barmer during a training sortie, pilot safe pic.twitter.com/u1i4D46NRa
- ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2021
Two MiG-21 pilots died this year. In May, the Squadron Leader Abhinav Choudhary ed away when the fighter he was piloting crashed in the village of Langiana Khurd, near Moga, in the state of Punjab, on the border with Pakistan. In March, Group Captain Ashish Gupta failed to eject from his MiG-21, losing his life shortly after taking off on a training mission.
The fighter of Soviet origin built a certain infamy due to the number of accidents involved. The website Cavok Brazil, citing the Indian Ministry of Defence, says that more than 400 Indian MiG-21s have crashed since the 70s. The IAF has about 130 MiG-21 fighters in its fleet, which are expected to be replaced by the HAL Tejas.
