Odisha: IAF plane crashes in Mayurbhanj district, pilot injured
The plane had taken off from Kalaikunda Air Force station in Kharagpur.
An Indian Air Force plane on Tuesday crashed in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district near the Jharkhand border. The trainee pilot at the helm of the Hawk advanced trainer aircraft safely ejected but was injured, The Times of India reported.
The jet had taken off from Kalaikunda Air Force station in West Bengal’s Kharagpur before crashing on a field in Mahuladangiri village in Baripada at 12.45 pm, the Odisha Sun Times reported. The villagers took the pilot to a nearby health centre.
Visuals from the crash site in the Odisha-Jharkhand border where the Hawk Jet crashed pic.twitter.com/A7knqrbnjx
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) March 20, 2018
“The aircraft was on a routine training sortie,” ANI quoted the Indian Air Force as saying. It added that an investigation will be initiated to ascertain the cause of the accident.
In February, two pilots were killed as a microlight aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed in Assam’s Sumoi Mari village, near the river island of Majuli.
Indian Air Force plane crashes at Subarnarekha's Topa ghat near Mahuladangiri village in Baripada on #Odisha-Jharkhand border; pilot critical, admitted to hospital pic.twitter.com/dgouvXraBN
— OTV (@otvnews) March 20, 2018