2 IAF fighter jets collide mid-air near Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior, 1 pilot dead

2 IAF fighter jets collided mid-air near India’s Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior on Saturday morning, leaving 1 pilot dead.

It was initially reported that two Indian Air Force fighter jets have crashed in an apparent mid-air collision while on exercises around 300 kilometres (185 miles) south of the capital New Delhi.

As reported, an Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot was killed after two fighter jets, a Sukhoi Su-30 and a Mirage 2000 crashed.

While two pilots on the Su-30 sustained minor injuries, the pilot on the Mirage died after being fatally wounded in the crash.

“Two fighter aircraft of IAF were involved in an accident near Gwalior today morning. The aircraft were on routine operational flying training missions. One of the three pilots involved sustained fatal injuries. An inquiry has been ordered to determine the cause of the accident,” the IAF said in a statement.

The IAF deeply regrets to inform that Wg Cdr Hanumanth Rao Sarathi suffered fatal injuries during the accident. All air warriors and the fraternity stand strongly with the bereaved family.

— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) January 28, 2023

 

Videos from the scene, apparently shot by locals in Morena, are now doing rounds on social media showing debris from the aircraft on the ground.

#planecrash Deeply pained about to hear air collision of Sukhoi-30 & Mirage 2000 aircraft near Morena, Madhya Pradesh and bharatpur Rajsthan. My heart goes out to the bereaved family members of the deceased pilot & I pray for the speedy recovery of those injured in the crashed pic.twitter.com/GyQ3jc7iBA

— Lav Chaudhary (@Chaudharysaab90) January 28, 2023

#UPDATE Plane Crash : तीन नहीं दो ही विमान हुए क्रैश, टक्कर के बाद मिराज मुरैना में ही गिरा, सुखोई के हिस्से भरतपुर में मिले#Bharatpur #HelicopterCrash #RajasthanNews pic.twitter.com/kV73opKKfr

— MSB News (@PBusiness_1) January 28, 2023