INDIA. Madhya Pradesh: On Saturday morning, two fighter jets from the Indian Air Force (IAF)—a Sukhoi 30 and a Mirage 2000—crashed near Morena in Madhya Pradesh. Although early reports suggested a mid-air crash might have occurred, there has been no official confirmation.
The IAF court of inquiry is looking into the incident to determine whether or not there was a mid-air collision. The Su-30 had two pilots during the crash, while the Mirage 2000 only had one. Early signs show that two of the pilots are safe, and an IAF helicopter is on its way to where the third pilot is.
At 5:30 in the morning, the incident happened. Initial reports indicated that the planes were on a training exercise when they purportedly took off from the Gwalior air base.
Defence sources reported that IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal V. R. Chaudhari briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the two aircraft’s crash. They claimed that the defence minister is paying close attention to the developments.
“Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh was briefed by the Chief of Air Staff on the crash of two aircraft of the Indian Air Force. Raksha Mantri enquired about the well-being of the IAF pilots and is monitoring the developments closely,” defence ministry sources said.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, said that it happened and that he had told the local government to work with the air force to help rescue and relief efforts as soon as possible.
“The news of the crash of Sukhoi-30 and Mirage-2000 aircraft of the Air Force near Kolaras in Morena is very sad. I have instructed the local administration to cooperate with the Air Force in quick rescue and relief work. I pray to God that the pilots of the planes are safe,” Chouhan tweeted in Hindi.
In December 2021, the government told Parliament that seven IAF aircraft had crashed in the two years prior.
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