MiG-21 Fighter Jet of Indian Air Force Crashes

A MiG-21 fighter jet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed in the eastern Indian state of Assam, local media reported.The pilot lost control and the aircraft fell on a paddy field some 25 km from the city of Tezpur on Saturday.

The fate of the pilot is unknown.India's fighter fleet consists mainly of obsolete Soviet MiG-21 models. The Defense Ministry plans to phase them out by 2017.Accidents involving Soviet-designed MiG-21 fighter jets, known as the Bahadhur (Brave) in the IAF, which were produced in India under license and have been in operation for several decades, are frequent in the country.

Posted in: India