The incident took place near a hostel in Jaisalmer’s Jawahar colony. (Image: News18)
A Court of enquiry has been ordered to look into the matter
In its first accident, a Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas of the Indian Air Force crashed near a hostel in Jaisalmer’s Jawahar colony in Rajasthan on Tuesday during an operational training sortie. The aircraft’s pilot ejected safely. He was rushed to the hospital by the locals.
Initial reports have suggested engine failure caused the accident but more details would be clear only after a detailed enquiry into the incident is completed, defence officials told ANI.
It is also learnt that the pilot communicated about the engine failure to the ground station before ejecting.
No other casualty was reported from the scene of the incident and efforts to extinguish the fire are underway.
#WATCH | Rajasthan | A Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas of the Indian Air Force crashed near Jaisalmer today during an operational training sortie. The pilot ejected safely. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. pic.twitter.com/3JZf15Q8eZ— ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2024
A Court of enquiry has been ordered to look into the matter.
Just last week, a female pilot had sustained injuries when a plane from a flight training academy crashed at Madhya Pradesh’s Guna aerodrome.
The incident occurred when a trainee aircraft — en route from Neemuch to Dhana — experienced a malfunction, leading to an emergency landing where control was lost, Sub Inspector Chanchal Tiwari (Guna) told ANI.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had also addressed the incident in a post on the microblogging site X.
“Worrying news has been received about the crash of a trainee aircraft flying on Neemuch-Dhana-Guna sector at Guna Air Strip. The female trainee pilot is undergoing treatment in the hospital. The reasons for the accident are being investigated. I pray to God for the health of the pilot,” Scindia wrote on X.
LIGHT COMBAT AIRCRAFT (LCA) TEJAS
Last year, the central government placed an order of Rs 36,468 crore for 83 LCA Mk 1A Tejas aircraft with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The delivery was scheduled to begin by February, 2024.
The first version of the aircraft was inducted into the Indian Air Force in 2016.
Sources had said that more than Rs 9,000 crore was sanctioned for the development of LCA Mk2, an updated and more lethal version of LCA Tejas.
