Jodhpur: An MiG-27 UPG aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed on Sunday morning here. The pilot managed to eject safely. The aircraft was on a routine mission. Notably, MiG-27 UPG is upgraded versions of the aircraft. Indian Air Force now is now left with the last squadron of the Mig-27 UPG, according to reports.
The IAF has witnessed a series of crashes of its machines from choppers to fighter jets. On March 8, a MiG-21 fighter had crashed in Rajasthan’s Bikaner area. The pilot had ejected safely.
On February 1, a Mirage 2000 fighter jet had crashed leading to the death of two pilots. An inquiry later revealed that jet crashed due to software problems and not human error. A few days before the Aero India show, two Surya Kiran jets collided with each other. One pilot was killed in the incident.
Another MiG-27 fighter jet crashed on February 12 in Rajasthan’s Pokharan range. The pilot fortunately survived.
On February 27, a Mi-17 chopper of the IAF crashed killing six IAF personnel on board. Media reports suggested that a surface-to-air missile was fired just before the crash leading to speculations that the chopper was downed by the Indian missile itself.