MIG 21 jet crashes in HP, pilot killed

CHANDIGARH/DHARAMSHALA: A MIG 21 fighter jet of the Indian Air Force crashed in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, killing the pilot, Squadron Leader Meet Kumar, the IAF said.

The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry into the crash.

The aircraft had taken off from the Pathankot air base on a routing sortie at 12:20 pm. It crashed around 1:20 pm in Patta Jattian village in Jawali, around 70 km from Dharamshala.

“No loss of civilian life or damage to property has been reported in the incident as the plane crashed into the fields,” said Santosh Patial, SP, Kangra.

The pilot was initially thought to be missing.

Two IAF helicopters landed at the crash site soon after the accident for search operations and on-the-spot investigation.

Patta Jatian residents were first to report the crash to authorities. “We heard a deafening sound and rushed out of our houses and saw smoke arising out of agricultural fields near our village,” said villager Hem Singh.

Other eyewitnesses claimed that the plane exploded in the air before crashing into the fields. The debris of the aircraft were spread over an area of two square kilometers. Wednesday’s accident comes less than two months after another MIG 21 crashed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district on May 27. That crash too killed the pilot.

Squadron Leader Meet Kumar.