Jaisalmer (Raj), April 30 One Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot was killed and another seriously injured in the first-ever Su-30 MKI fighter jet crash today in the country near here.
The deceased pilot has been identified as
Wing Commander P S
Nara and the injured as
Wing Commander S V Munje, IAF officials said in New Delhi. A court of inquiry has been ordered into the mishap.
According to
Defence PRO Lt Col N N Joshi, the crash took place around 10.20 hours about 70 km southeast of here near
Rajmathai-Hariyasar village in
Rajasthan when the two pilots flew out the aircraft on a routine sortie.
Within a few minutes of taking off, the pilots reported trouble in the aircraft and both ejected out of the cockpit, after directing the aircraft on to a vacant agricultural land. But both pilots suffered serious injuries and were rushed by an IAF rescue team to a nearby military hospital, sources said.
While Wg Cdr
Nara succumbed to injuries, the condition of Wg Cdr
Munje is said to be stable.
The front line fighter aircraft and the pilots, sources said, belonged to one of the
Sukhoi squadrons based in
Lohegaon near Pune.