Barmer, 03 September (HS). An Indian Air Force fighter plane crashed in Kawas area near Uttarlai Airbase in Barmer district of Rajasthan. The pilot had ejected before the plane crashed. He is safe. The Air Force has ordered a Court of Inquiry.
Defense PRO Ajitabh Sharma said that the MiG-29 fighter plane has crashed. The Air Force wrote on its X handle, “During a routine night training mission in the Barmer sector, the Indian Air Force's MiG-29 suffered a serious technical fault. Due to this, the pilot had to eject from the plane. The pilot is safe and there is no report of any loss of life or property. Orders for a Court of Inquiry have been given.”
According to the police, the fighter plane crashed away from the residential area at around 10 pm on Monday night. After the plane crashed, a fire broke out with a loud explosion. On receiving information about the accident, Barmer Collector Nishant Jain, District Superintendent of Police Narendra Singh Meena and other administrative officials of the district reached the spot.
According to eyewitnesses, the pilot took the plane moving rapidly towards the ground away from a population of about 1500 people. There is also a Mangala terminal process unit of crude oil in Nagana, three kilometers away from where the plane crashed. From here, 1.75 lakh barrels of crude oil are sent to the refinery in Gujarat every day. If the MiG had fallen near this terminal, a major accident could have occurred.
The sound of the explosion was heard for ten kilometers
Shaheed Hukam Singh's Dhani resident Ridmal Singh said that the pilot crashed the plane at the right place. There is a crude oil unit at a distance of two kilometers from here. Also, there is a densely populated area and market at a distance of three kilometers. If the plane had crashed there, a major accident could have happened. The plane had become a fireball in the sky. The sound of the explosion was heard for about 10 kilometers.
According to Neemraj, who lives about half a kilometer away from the incident spot, a loud sound was heard at 10 pm. 10 minutes later, smoke was seen rising towards the fields. By the time we reached the incident spot, the Air Force vehicle had arrived. The explosion was so loud that it seemed as if lightning had struck somewhere. The plane was burning even after falling in the sand.