Indian MiG-21 Crashes, Pilot Dies, Seven Injured
Posted 3-9-2005 at 11:22 PM
An Indian air force MiG-21 fighter jet crashed March 8 in the western desert state of Rajasthan, killing its pilot and injuring seven military personnel on the ground, police said.
The accident occurred just after midday when the single-engine warplane took off from Rajasthan’s Naal air base near Bikaner town but slammed into an adjacent water tower and crashed, police chief C. Ponnuchamy said.
In January, another MiG-21 crashed in Naal, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the main city of Jodhpur.
More than 100 Indian air force pilots have died in the past decade mainly due to crashes of the Russian made MiG jets, which are so accident-prone they have been nicknamed “flying coffins” in India.
An Indian air force MiG-21 fighter jet crashed March 8 in the western desert state of Rajasthan, killing its pilot and injuring seven military personnel on the ground, police said.
The accident occurred just after midday when the single-engine warplane took off from Rajasthan’s Naal air base near Bikaner town but slammed into an adjacent water tower and crashed, police chief C. Ponnuchamy said.
In January, another MiG-21 crashed in Naal, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the main city of Jodhpur.
More than 100 Indian air force pilots have died in the past decade mainly due to crashes of the Russian made MiG jets, which are so accident-prone they have been nicknamed “flying coffins” in India.
