One navy official shared Indian Navy’s trainer aircraft, MiG-29K that was being operated from another aircraft carrier “INS Vikramaditya” was crushed in an accident while passing the Arabian sea on this Thursday evening.
According to the Indian Navy, “A MiG-29K trainer aircraft operating at sea met with an accident at about 1700 hrs on 26 November. One pilot has been recovered, and search operation by the air and surface units is currently in progress for the second pilot of the aircraft. An inquiry has been ordered to start investigating the incident”.
Shripad Naik, Union Minister of State for Defence praised both the pilot on aircraft for directing the jet away from habitation before their ejection.
This was continuously the fourth crash in a row recently including the MiG-29K aircraft. This year in February, one more MiG-29K aircraft, which was out on routine training sortie, had crashed in Goa. However, the pilot was somehow able to eject out on time.
Again in November last year, a two-seater MiG29K crashed as a bird hit it after taking off from the Goa marine airbase. However, both pilots were able to eject safely.
In January 2018, another MiG-29K crashed as it swerved off the escapee at the INS Hansa base in Goa; the pilot was successful to escape unharmed.
INS Vikramaditya just finished the second phase of the Malabar exercises involving naval forces from countries of the US, Japan, and Australia in the northern Arabian Sea. The exercises were centered on the “Vikramaditya Carrier Battle Group” of the Indian Navy and Nimitz Carrier Strike Group of the US Navy. The two conveyors, along with some other ships, submarines, and aircraft of the participating fleets, had engaged in high vehemence navy operations for four days from November 17 onwards. These exercises included cross-deck flying activities and advanced air defense operations by MIG 29K fighter aircraft of INS Vikramaditya and F-18 fighters and E2C Hawkeye from Nimitz.
