A Jaguar fighter plane of the Indian Air Force crashed near Bhuj in Gujarat on Friday, while performing a routine sortie. The pilot managed to eject safely.
"A Jaguar fighter jet which had taken off from Bhuj air base for a routine sortie crashed near Bibber village, which is 30 kms from the base," India Today quoted an IAF official.
"The pilot ejected safely and is not hurt in the mishap," he added.
A court of inquiry has been ordered into the incident.
A defence ministry release stated that the crash took place at 12.06 pm, about 30 kms from Bhuj.
"The pilot, who was airborne from Bhuj at 11.40 am, was on a flying training mission and has ejected safely. There is no reported damage on the ground," IANS quoted the release.
The IAF currently operates 139 Jaguars and has been upgrading the fighter planes since 2013.
In Friday's accident, the pilot reportedly ejected at the Loria village, situated 22 kms from Bhuj, while the plane crashed in Bibber village, 30 kms from Bhuj.
The IAF is facing a decline in the number of aircraft and fighter jets, mainly owning to frequent crashes.
Back in January, a Jaguar aircraft crashed in Bholasar village of Bikaner district in Rajasthan, while on a similar training mission.
On 25 July, an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) crashed in Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh, killing seven IAF personnel onboard, DNA had reported. While in May, a MiG-21 fighter aircraft crashed in Bijbehara region in Anantnag district of Kashmir, killing the pilot.
Two MiG-29 fighter planes had crashed in June and July 2013, near Gujarat's Jamnagar air base.
In the last three years, a total of 20 IAF fighter aircrafts have met with accidents, blamed on human error or technical defects.
