A Sukhoi-30MKI fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed at LaokhowaBoralimari village in Nagaon district of central Assam on Tuesday afternoon with both pilot and co-pilot ejecting safely a few seconds before the accident took place. [related-post] The aircraft that was on a routine sortie had taken off from the IAF’s Tezpur Salonibari Air Force Station at around 12:30 PM and soon lost contact, following which it crashed in a village on the south bank of the Brahmaputra, about 30 kms south of the IAF base. Disclosing this, Tezpur-based Defence PRO Lt Col Shombit Ghosh said both pilot and co-pilot were safe and were rescued and shifted to Tezpur. While preliminary reports said that the aircraft had developed some technical snag, a Court of Inquiry was immediately announced in order to ascertain the exact reason behind the crash. The aircraft that was broken into pieces in the impact of the crash also a crater on the ground, local reports said. The IAF base at Tezpur, close to the China border, had first inducted a batch of four Sukhoi-30 aircrafts in 2009, followed by a full squadron a few months later.
