A MiG-21 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed today evening near Rajasthan's Jaisalmer, a senior police officer told news agency PTI. A search operation is on to locate the pilot. The exact location of the crash has not been revealed yet.
The plane crashed in the Desert National Park area under the Sam police station, Jaisalmer SP Ajay Singh told the agency. The SP said local police reached the spot and he is also on the way to the crash site.
Several MiG-21 crashes have been reported this year alone. The aircraft has been dubbed "flying coffin" as it makes news regularly for crashes. From 1971 to April 2012, as many as 482 MiG aircraft have met with accidents, killing 171 pilots, 39 civilians, eight service personnel, and one aircrew, the government had told Parliament in May 2012. "The causes of accidents were both human error and technical defects," the government had said.
This is a developing story; more details will be added soon.
