IAF Su-30MKI crashes near Pune, pilots eject

Mangalore Today / PTI

Pune, Dec 13: An Indian Air Force (IAF) Sukhoi-MK30I fighter aircraft crashed at Vadebolai near Pune on Tuesday afternoon. The Su-MK30I jet took off from Pune’s Lohegaon IAF base around 1245 and crashed at 1:10 pm.

 

 

Locals said that they saw both the pilots eject before the crash. IAF officials are trying to trace the pilots.

 

This is the third cash of the IAF’s frontline fighter aircraft. In 2009 the IAF had lost two Sukhoi-30MKI jets.

While one of the Russian-origin combat jets had crashed on April 30, 2009 about 70 km southeast of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, the the second crash, too, had taken place near Jaisalmer on November 30.

In the first incident the cause of the crash was attributed to the failure of Su-30MKI’s sophisticated fly-by-wire system. The pilot, Wing Commander SV Munje, and the co-pilot, Wing Commander PS Narah, had managed to eject safely but the latter was killed after he was reportedly hit by the falling debris of fighter jet.

In the second crash both the pilots ejected safely.