A Mirage 2000 fighter, flown by Air Marshal Anil Chopra and Wing Commander Ram Kumar, crashed on Friday near Bhind in Madhya Pradesh.

The aircraft went down 5 minutes after taking off from Gwalior air base. Both pilots ejected safely.

Anil Chopra is the senior-most IAF officer to have been involved in an air crash.

In 2002, Air Marshal VK Bhatia, on an inaugural flight to Kargil, flew his AN-32 aircraft across the LoC and was fired upon by Pakistan. He, however, escaped unhurt.