Srinagar: A Squadron Leader of the Indian Air Force was killed when a MiG-21 fighter plane he was flying crashed in Kashmir’s southern Anantnag district on Tuesday.
Sqn. Ldr Saurab Raghuvansi, flew from Srinagar’s technical airport was on a routine training sortie and crashed about 10 kilometres from Awantipur air-base, about 35 km south of Srinagar.
A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain cause of the crash, a defence spokesperson said here.
IAF officials were quickly deputed to the site of the accident to ascertain the cause of crash. A police team also visited the site of wreckage and the entire area was cordoned off.
Sqn Ldr Raghuvansi’s body was recovered from the crash site and airlifted to the IAF field station here.
The MiG-21, a Soviet era fighter aircraft has been the backbone of India’s air defence since its induction but has the notoriety of crashing several times in the past decade. It has earned the nicknames of “widow-maker” and “flying coffins.”
Following the increase in number of crashes the IAF has started phasing out the MiG-21 squadron.
In a Twitter post, Jammu and Kashmir CM, Omar Abdullah, condoled the pilot’s demise.
“Not entirely disconnected from today’s crash, the new government needs to sort out defense procurement issue for Navy, Air Force and Army as soon as possible,” Mr Abdullah wrote on micro-blogging site.
