Jammu: A MIG-21 fighter plane of IAF crashed in the Basantgarh-Mahore mountains in Reasi district in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday with two pilots on board still reported missing, PTI reports quoting defence sources.
The fighter took off from Udhampur airbase on Tuesday morning on a routine training sortie. But lost contact with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) when it was flying over Basantgarh-Mahore mountains, they said.
The aircraft is feared to have crashed and a search is on to locate the wreckage and the missing pilots.
The aircraft had taken off from the Udhampur Air Base on "a routine training sortie" at around 1040 hrs. It was ostensibly still carrying out its mission objective when around 1130 hrs it lost contact with the Air Traffic Control at the Air Base, IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Sanjeev Sharma said.
The fighter was believed to have crashed in the Basantgarh area of the Udhampur district and an intensive search — both ground-based and from the air — had been launched with the assistance of Army troops, he said.
However, till late afternoon, the wreckage of the plane had not been sighted, Wg Cdr Sharma added. Reports from Jammu feared the pilot had been killed in the mishap.
Significantly, out of the 793 MiG-21s progressively inducted in the IAF since 1963, a total of 330 have been lost in accidents.
But with the IAF launching a concerted flight safety strategy on the four pillars of "technology, capability, training and environment," the rate was brought down to 0.44 accidents per 10,000 hours of flying during 2005-06, the lowest recorded since
1971-72.
While inaugurating a three-day Air Force Commanders' Conference here on Monday, Defence Minister AK Antony had complimented the IAF for its ''excellent flight safety record'' during the last financial year. But on a cautionary note, he had also stressed upon the need for training and strict adherence to Standard Operating Procedures relating to flight safety.
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