Hyderabad:
An aircraft of a naval aerobatic team crashed on Wednesday during an airshow in Hyderabad and police said the pilot was killed and four others were injured on the ground.
Formed in 2003, the Sagar Pawan team had last performed at the MiG 29K induction ceremony in Goa on February 19.
It is one of the only two naval aerobatic teams in the world along with the 'Blue Angels' of the US Navy and uses four Kiran Mk-II trainer aircraft based at the Indian Naval Air Station Hansa in Goa.
In a span of three days, this is the second mishap involving the aerobatic display teams of the Indian armed forces.
On February 27, an ALH Dhruv of IAF's Sarang helicopter display team crash-landed in Jaisalmer due to loss of power while rehearsing for the Vayu Shakti air show there.
A pilot of IAF's Suryakiran Aerial Display Team (SKAT), which also flies the Kiran Mk-II aircraft, had met with an accident on January 21, 2009, killing the pilot.
Another Surya Kiran aircraft crashed on March 18, 2006 near its home base in Bidar during a training sortie, killing Wing Commander Dheeraj Bhatia and Squadron Leader Shailender Singh.
In 2010, the IAF has lost two fighter aircraft -- a MiG- 27 and a MiG-21. Last year, the IAF had recorded 11 air mishaps, of which five involved MiG-21 aircraft.