An Indian Army pilot was killed and two others were injured in a collision between two aircraft during maneuvers south of the capital, New Delhi, the Indian Air Force said today, Saturday. Mirage 2000 French made with pilot.
The Air Force said in a statement that one of the three pilots died from his injuries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is currently working to modernize its outdated military equipment after several army planes were involved in air crashes in recent years.
In December 2021, former Indian Army Chief of Staff Bipin Rawat, along with 12 others, died in the crash of a Russian Mi-17 helicopter that was taking him to a military base.
The Air Force said the two planes that crashed on Saturday took off from the Gwalior base in Madhya Pradesh on a “routine combat training mission.”
One of them crashed in the forests of Bahadgarh, in the center of the state, 300 km south of New Delhi.
“The two pilots were found near the crash site and later evacuated by an Indian Air Force helicopter,” Morena District Police Chief Ashutosh Bagri told AFP, noting that their lives were not in danger.
The second plane crashed in Rajasthan and was spotted by the military, judging by photographs of local rescue workers.
And in October, five soldiers were killed after their helicopter crashed in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, near the disputed border with China, in the state’s second helicopter crash this month. A few weeks earlier, another helicopter had crashed near the city of Tawang, killing the pilot.
