A MiG 21 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed Wednesday morning shortly after take-off from Uttarlai Air Base in north India's Rajasthan, killing the pilot.
An IAF spokesman said that Flight Lt. A S Jamwal was killed after the aircraft caught fire soon after take-off and plunged into a nearby field in Barmer.
A court of inquiry has been ordered, local TV reported.
The spokesman said that the MiG-21 was carrying out a low-level flying maneuver when the pilot apparently lost control and the fighter aircraft crashed near Sinadhari in Barmer district at about 07:15 a.m. local time.
There was no casualty on the ground as the fighter crashed in an uninhabited area.
The aircraft was one of the earliest MiG-21 jets, which are in the process of being phased out, the spokesman said.
(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2003)
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