The Hindu : National : IAF aircraft crash-lands, pilot jumps out

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Sunday, Dec 23, 2007
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IAF aircraft crash-lands, pilot jumps out

Staff Reporter

The trainer aircraft reportedly developed some technical snag

— PHOTO: PTI

A Surya Kiran plane of the Indian Air Force that crashed at Bhubaneswar airport during practice session on Saturday.

BHUBANESWAR: A young Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot had a lucky escape when a HJT-16 Kiran, a military trainer aircraft of Surya Kiran, aerobatics demonstration team, crash-landed inside the Biju Patnaik Airport area here on Saturday.

The incident occurred at about 11.50 a.m. when three Surya Kiran aircraft took off from the airport while a fourth one being flown by Wing Commander Rajat Tyagi reportedly showed some technical snag in the engine.

Soon the aircraft headed towards the grassland on the tip of airport boundary.

The young pilot jumped out of the aircraft while fuel leaked out of the aircraft and the grass bushes nearby caught fire.

As many as 12 Surya Kiran aircraft were heading towards Vishakhapatnam after conducting air shows in Malaysia and Thailand. All these aircraft had landed here for refuelling.

“Even as the aircraft was leaving the ground, the engine flamed out and the aircraft crash-landed,” Commanding Officer S. Banshal said here.

The Air Traffic Control and crash corps personnel rushed to the crash site.

As a precautionary measure, the young pilot was immediately sent for medical examination. Commanding Officer Banshal said a board of inquiry would be instituted to ascertain the exact reason for engine flameout.

Meanwhile, hundreds of curious onlookers thronged the central farm of Orissa University of Agriculture Technology from where the crashed aircraft was clearly visible. An eyewitness, Birendra Das, said as soon as the aircraft was about to take off, a thick flame trailed it.

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