Guwahati, Aug 9 (IANS) Two months after the tragic loss of an An-32 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force, a Su-30 fighter jet crashed near Assam’s Tezpur on Thursday, a defence official said.
Defence spokesman, Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh said that the aircraft was on a routine training mission from the Tezpur air base when it crashed. “Both the pilots on board the aircraft, however, managed to eject safely and have been rescued,” he added.
A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain cause of the accident, he said.
In July last year, a Su-30 had gone missing with two pilots on board while on a routine training mission from Tezpur. Its wreckage had been found three days later, close to its last known position after a massive surveillance operation.
Till July 2018, seven Su-30s – a frontline fighter of the IAF – had crashed in various incidents in different parts of the country ever since its induction into service in 1997.
Thursday’s accident came over two months after an An-32 with 13 people on board, had gone missing along the Indo-China border on June 3, about 30 minutes after taking off from Assam’s Jorhat for Mechuka advanced landing ground in Arunachal Pradesh.
The wreckage was only found on June 11 in a remote area in Arunachal Pradesh and the mortal remains of the crew and passengers recovered on June 19.
–IANS
ah-akd/vd