Air Force Jaguar fighter jet crashes in Gujarat's Kutch; pilot dies

A Jaguar fighter jet of the Indian Air Force (AIF) crashed in Gujarat's Kutch district on Tuesday. The pilot of the jet, Air Cmde Sanjay Chauhan, failed to eject on time and died in the crash.

The aircraft was on a routine training mission from Jamnagar and crashed near a village in Kutch. The jet reportedly hit the cattle grazing in the field where it crashed. The Air Force has ordered a Court of Inquiry to investigate the cause of the accident.

"Today morning a Jaguar aircraft on a routine training mission from Jamnagar crashed around 10:30 am," defence spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Manish Ojha said.

The SEPECAT Jaguar is an orthodox single-seat, twin-engine attack aircraft which was used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. An upgraded version of the Aircraft is still being used by the Indian Airforce.

The aircraft is equipped with a navigation and attack system and can bear an external weapons load of up to 4,500 kg with abilities to penetrate deep behind the enemy lines on bombing runs.

(More details awaited)