The Jaguar aircraft crashed 13 kilometres from Allahabad
A Jaguar fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed this morning near Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. Both the pilots managed to eject safely.
The plane which had taken off at 7:25 am from the Bamrauli air strip in Allahabad was on a routine training sortie.
The pilots reportedly sent signals to the ground staff that there was some major technical glitch with the aircraft.
When they could not control the aircraft any longer, the pilots ejected and the plane crashed close to the Food Corporation of India godown near Naini area, about 13 kilometres from Allahabad at 8:47 am. A court of inquiry has been ordered.
A fire broke out in the aircraft and fire engines were rushed to the crash site.
The area has been cordoned off and there were no casualties on ground, reported news agency Indo-Asian News Service, quoting officials.
This is the second Jaguar aircraft of the Indian Air Force to have crashed this year. In March, a Jaguar fighter had crashed near Kurukshetra in Haryana after a technical snag; the pilot had ejected safely.
The Jaguar is a twin-engine, single seater deep penetration strike aircraft of Anglo-French origin which has a maximum speed of 1350 kilometres per hour (Mach 1.3). It has two 30 mm guns and can carry two R-350 Magic CCMs (overwing) along with 4750 kg of external stores (bombs/fuel), says the Indian Air Force's website.