IAF Fighter Jet Crashes in Haryana’s Panchkula, Pilot Ejects Safely

IAF Fighter Jet Crashes in Haryana’s Panchkula: Due to some technical defect, an air crash involving the Jaguar fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force was reported during a routine training sortie on Friday. The pilot managed to eject safely and was evacuated later by IAF.

The debris from the unfortunate aircraft fell in a hill-range, forested area near Raipur Rani in the district of Panchkula close to the border of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. The aircraft had taken off from the Ambala airbase.

Some local villagers gathered at the spot to help the pilot out of his parachute harness.

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“A Jaguar aircraft of the IAF crashed at Ambala during a routine training sortie today, after encountering a system malfunction. The pilot maneuvered the aircraft away from any habitation on ground before ejecting safely. An inquiry has been ordered by the IAF to ascertain the cause of the accident,” an official statement by the IAF said.

Besides other ancillary units, squadrons of Jaguar and the newly inducted Rafale aircraft are located at the Ambala airbase in Haryana. This is the oldest airbase in the IAF.

The Jaguar has seen its share of incidents, and IAF sources claim that in its 45 years of service with the IAF, the fleet has faced greater than 50 major and minor incidents, some of which have ended in fatality.

Presently, the IAF operates around 120 twin-engine Jaguars, equipping six squadrons of No. 5, 6, 14, 16, 27, and 224, based at Ambala, Jamnagar, and Gorakhpur, which constitute an important part of the IAF's strike capability and tactical reconnaissance. Some Jaguars have been modified for the maritime role with anti-ship missiles.

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In 1979, 40 aircraft were imported from the UK, followed by licence manufacture of 150 aircraft by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, with aircraft rolling off the assembly lines as late as 2007. India is the only remaining Jaguar operator, all other users—France, UK, Oman, Nigeria and Ecuador—having retired them.

The early Jaguars were armed with short-range air-to-air missiles like Matra R-550 Magic, employed in unorthodox configuration over-the-wing pylons in self-defence during strike missions.

A few years ago, the IAF began the re-equipping of the Jaguars with DARIN-III advanced navigation and attack avionics suite, and earlier this year launched another project to re-equip the fleet with new generation close combat air-to-air missiles, transport platforms, cruise missiles and UAVs.

Recently, India procured 31 decommissioned Jaguar airframes from France and two each from the UK and Oman, along with several thousand aero-spares, to replenish some aircraft lost due to attrition and to ensure the serviceability of the existing fleet.

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