NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Three people died when an Indian Air Force fighter jet crashed through the roof of a house in a village in the northern border state of Rajasthan on Monday, the air force said on Monday.
The single-seater MiG-21 crashed after the pilot experienced an onboard emergency and ejected, the Indian Air Force said in a statement.
“The aircraft wreckage fell on a house in Bahlol Nagar in Hanumangarh District, unfortunately leading to the loss of three lives,” it said.
The pilot ejected safely and sustained minor injuries in the process, the air force said, adding that a court of inquiry had been set up to investigate the cause of the accident.
India has plans to ground its entire fleet of the Soviet-era fighter jet by 2025, local media reported last year.
The MiG-21, dubbed “the flying coffin” by the Indian media, has been the country’s key fighter jet since its introduction in 1963 but has been plagued by crashes in recent years.
(Reporting by Krishn Kaushik; Writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
