M A I N   N E W S

MiG-21 explodes
2 pilots die in crash near Srinagar

New Delhi, July 15
Two pilots were killed when a MiG-21 fighter aircraft exploded in a ball of fire while approaching Srinagar airport in Jammu and Kashmir for landing late Monday, officials here said today.

“The MiG-21 trainer was on a routine night flying sortie when the accident occurred at about 10.25 p.m. on Monday,” IAF spokesman Squadron Leader Mahesh Upasni told IANS. “Both pilots were killed.”

With this crash, the IAF has lost eight aircraft this year, including three of its ageing MiG-21s. Four pilots have died in these accidents.

The police in Srinagar said the jet suddenly went down while descending towards the airport, which is also used by civilian aircraft.

“It caught fire on the runway and both pilots died,” said a police official in Srinagar.

The police said it was providential the jet had crashed in a clear area as the Srinagar airport is located amidst several highly populated neighbourhoods.

The dead pilots were identified as Wing Cdr. R. Rastogi and Flt. Lt B. Ganesh. The IAF has ordered an inquiry to ascertain the cause of the crash.

The purpose of the sortie was to allow Rastogi, an instructor, to assess Flt-Lt Ganesh’s skills, Sqn Ldr Upasni said.

Two civilians, including a child, died in December last year when a MiG-21 hit a house at Budgam in Kashmir, close to Srinagar, but the pilot bailed out safely.

In June last year, a MiG-27 jet burst into flames on the ground just before it was to take off from Srinagar airport. The pilot was injured in that incident.

Significantly, one of the MiG-21s that crashed this year was an upgraded version of the jet that the IAF plans to keep flying till the end of the decade.

The IAF is currently upgrading 125 MiG-21s to extend their life. But experts say the modifications do not make the Russian-designed jet a safer aircraft for rookie pilots.

Twin-seat versions of the MiG-21, like the jet that crashed Monday, are used to train pilots in the absence of an advanced jet trainer.

Senior pilots say the jump from slow flying jet trainers to the MiG-21 is like graduating from a small compact car to a high-performance racing car. — IANS