IAF pilot killed in Jaguar crash

An Indian Air Force (IAF) Jaguar combat jet crashed in Rajasthan Thursday killing its lone pilot, officials said. The aircraft had taken off from the Nal air force base in north Rajasthan and crashed at 4.40 p.m. at the Pokhran range near Jaisalmer in west Rajasthan, over 600 km from state capital Jaipur, an IAF spokesman said. The name of the pilot will be released after the next of kin is notified, the spokesman added. 'The aircraft was on a routine range training flight. The pilot sustained fatal injuries in the crash,' the spokesman said, adding a court of enquiry had been ordered into the accident. 'So far, there are no reports of loss of civilian life,' he said. This is the first IAF crash this year. Seven jets had crashed last year. They included three MiG-29s, two MiG-21s, a MiG-27 and a Suryakiran of the IAF's aerobatic display team. In addition, two Suryakirans were involved in a close shave during a display over Ahmedabad but both managed to land safely. In June, the IAF had called a press conference to announce its lowest ever accident rate in four decades of 0.44 percent for every 10,000 flying hours.

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