New Delhi: An Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot died when his Jaguar aircraft crashed near the Pokhran firing range on Thursday.
The incident took place at 1640 hrs IST on Tuesday after the aircraft had taken off from the Nal Air Base in Rajasthan.
The aircraft, which was on a live firing exercise mission, was blown up into pieces minutes later, according to an Air Force spokesman.
According to a police official, the debris of the aircraft was spread over large sections of sand dunes between Delasar and Dhaysar villages, about 55 kms from Jaisalmer.
Pilot Flying Lieutenant Shere Rao's body has been located, news agency PTI quoted the official as saying.
A senior IAF officer reached the spot of the accident to inquire into the reasons behind the crash.
The area was cordoned and villagers were asked to stay away from the crash site.
A court of inquiry has been ordered to find out the cause of the accident.
However, this is not the first time that an incident like this has happened.
In recent years, a number of crashes had left the continued viability of India's MiG-21s in question.
Last year in October the IAF lost its sixth jet when a MiG-27 crashed in Jarohi village of West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district.
However, the pilot of the jet had ejected safely and there were no reports of any property damage.
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