The Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft that went missing after takeoff from Assam’s Jorhat on Thursday evening crashed in the Karbi Anglong area, Indian Air Force has said, adding that search operations are underway. The aircraft was on a training mission and crashed some 60kms away from Jorhat. The fate of the two pilots is still not known.
Sukhoi-30 MKI, the fighter aircraft, lost radar contact on Thursday evening shortly after taking off from the airbase in Assam’s Jorhat, prompting a search and rescue operation to trace the aircraft and its two pilots, officials said earlier.
According to defence officials, the aircraft was last in contact with ground control at around 7.42 pm before it went off radar. “The aircraft had two pilots on board and there has been no contact with them so far. Search operations have been launched to locate both the aircraft and the pilots,” an IAF official, requesting anonymity, said.
Meanwhile, a loud explosion-like sound was reportedly heard from a remote hill area near Nilip block in Karbi Anglong district around 7 pm. Some unverified pictures of the alleged crash have also been circulating on social media.
The IAF operates a fleet of over 260 Su-30MKI jets. A Sukhoi fighter plane had crashed in the Nashik district of Maharashtra in June 2024. Another Sukhoi-30 jet had crashed in January 2023, after taking off from the Gwalior airbase.
www.hindustantimes.com
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