An Indian Air Force (IAF) Jaguar aircraft has crashed in Gujarat's Kutch, killing the pilot. Reports suggest the plane flew from the Jamnagar air base and crashed near a village. It reportedly hit cattle grazing in a field, killing them.

The aircraft, flown by Air Commodore Sanjay Chauhan, was on a routine training mission, a defence spokesperson said. The plane's debris was strewn on the dry fields near a village in Kutch's Mundra, 340 kilometres west from Ahmedabad.

The incident comes months after an IAF helicopter crashed in Assam's Majuli Island, killing two pilots -- Wing Commander J James and Wing Commander D Vats.

"Today morning a Jaguar aircraft on a routine training mission from Jamnagar crashed around 10:30 am," defence spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Manish Ojha said.
A court of inquiry into the crash has been ordered by the air headquarters to investigate the cause of the accident, people familiar with the matter said.

The Jaguar is a twin-engine, ground attack aircraft which can penetrate deep behind enemy lines on bombing runs.

It has a maximum speed of 1,350 kmph or 1.3 times the speed of sound. The bomber has two 30 mm guns and can carry 4,750 kg of ordnance. The aircraft, however, is aging since it was inducted into the Indian Air Force in 1979 -- that's almost three decades ago.

Source: NDTV

BDST: 1319 HRS, JUN 5, 2018
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