NEW DELHI, May 8, 2020 (BSS) – Indian air force today reported it lost a MiG-29 fighter jet in a crash at the country’s Punjab region but the pilot survived after a successful bail out.
“One Mig-29 aircraft airborne on a training mission from an Air Force base near Jalandhar (of Punjab) met with an accident,” an air force statement said adding that the crash took place as the craft developed a “technical snag”.
It said the pilot ejected safely as he was unable to control the aircraft while online newspapers in India carried his picture as he was talking to people and policemen surrounding him as he relaxed on an open field.
According to the statement helicopter later evacuated the pilot from the scene while authorities ordered a Court of Inquiry to investigate the cause of accident.
The MiG-29, a Soviet-era fast interceptor, was in action in the Kargil war in 1999.