A MiG-29K, a trainer jet of the Indian Navy, crashed in the Arabian Sea on Thursday evening at around 5 pm, informed Navy officials on Friday.
Following the incident, one pilot had been rescued, while the search for the other flyer was done throughout the night and is still on with helicopters and warships deployed, official sources have informed.
A high-level inquiry has been ordered to investigate the crash.
“A MiG-29K trainer aircraft operating at sea met with an accident at about 1700 hrs on 26 November. One pilot has been recovered and searches by air and surface units in progress for the second pilot. An inquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident,” the Indian Navy said.
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A MiG-29K trainer ac operaring over sea reported ditched at about 1700h/ 26 Nov 20. One pilot recovered. SAR (Search & Rescue) operation in progress to look for the 2nd pilot. #IN has instituted an inquiry to look into cause of accident @indiannavy (rep pic) pic.twitter.com/LKxOyKmTRL
— Captain DK Sharma (@CaptDKS) November 27, 2020
Sources have confirmed that the fighter jet had taken off from aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. The Indian Navy has a fleet of over 40 MiG-29K fighter aircraft, and some are stationed at the aircraft carrier.
The INS Vikramaditya was part of the Malabar exercise that was conducted recently where the navies of the US, Australia, and Japan participated along with India.
The Russian-made aircraft are kept at the naval air station INS Hansa at Goa. A part of the fleet is also stationed at INS Dega on the east coast at Visakhapatnam.
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This is the third misadventure of the MiG-29K aircraft within a year.
Last year, on November 16, a MiG-29K trainer aircraft bumped into the outskirts of Verna village in South Goa district. Both the pilots had then ejected safely.
In February this year, a MiG 29K crashed after being hit by birds over Goa. Both pilots had ejected safely and were commended for flying the aircraft into the sea reducing further damage before ejecting.