Pilot injured after aircraft of private training institute crashes near Pune

Just days after deadly Mirage 2000 crash that claimed lives of two Indian Air Force Pilots, another pilot was injured after an aircraft of a private training institute crashed near Maharashtra’s Pune on Tuesday. According to initial reports, the villagers took the pilot to a local hospital. The situation of the pilot is yet not known. The early crash photographs tweeted by news agency ANI showed the intensity of the crash. The trainee aircraft hit the ground and broke its nose. But luckily, there was no fire in the aircraft. This means that the pilot has the chance of surviving the crash.

The February 1 crash that had killed two In dian Air Force pilots has brought the performance factor of the HAL back in limelight. The Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation.

On January 28, a Jaguar aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.  However, the pilot ejected safely using a parachute. “A Jaguar aircraft while on a routine mission from Gorakhpur, crashed. Pilot ejected safely. A court of Inquiry has been ordered to investigate the accident,” the air force said in a statement.

Last year, an IAF pilot was killed after a Jaguar crashed in Gujarat’s Kutch in June. On March 14 last year, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre had told Parliament that there were five crashes of IAF aircraft in 2017-2018, and 31 crashes in four years. The force has an estimated 600 fighter jets across 31 squadrons. According to a report, there were 11 crashes noted in 2018. The old inventory of the Air Force needs an urgent upgrade.

The crash comes after 12-day war game in Jodhpur last year. On December 10, 2018, the Indian and Russian air forces began a 12-day war game in Jodhpur with an aim to enhance their operational coordination. The exercise ‘Aviaindra’ was very unique as the Russian Air Force did not bring its assets and took part in the drill using Indian platforms, an IAF official had said. The first edition of the exercise was held in 2014.