Jaguar fighter aircraft crashes, pilot, girl killed

MAU (UP: A Jaguar fighter aircraft on Thursday crashed in Dilahi Firozpur village in this district, killing its pilot and a girl working in a field, the second IAF plane to meet with an accident this week.

The single-seater plane of the IAF burst into flames soon after the crash, DIG, Azamgarh range, L.Ravikumar said.

The pilot and a girl working in a field were killed in the accident, he said.

The Jaguar, a deep penetration strike aircraft, had taken off from Gorakhpur airbase in UP, IAF sources said in Delhi.

On Tuesday, a MiG-21 fighter aircraft crashed while landing at Naal airfield in Rajasthan's Bikaner district, killing the pilot.

On February 4, a MiG-21 'Bison' fighter plane had crashed apparently due to an engine problem while on a routine sortie in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district but the pilot had ejected safely.

In 2010, a total of 10 IAF aircraft crashes took place including four MiG-27 and two MiG-21 planes.

Defence Minister A K Antony had said in Lok Sabha on Monday that 24 fighter aircraft accidents have taken place in the last three years, in which four service personnel and five civilians lost their lives.

Of these accidents, 23 per cent were due to human error, according to him.