A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. "A Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas of the Indian Air Force crashed near Jaisalmer today during an operational training sortie. The pilot ejected safely," the IAF said in a brief statement.
The pilot and co-pilot were present in Tejas at the time of the crash. On receiving the information, fire tenders and army personnel reached the spot. Efforts are being made to extinguish the fire.
The crash occurred around 100 km from the Pokhran desert where a mega war game 'Bharat Shakti' witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top military brass was underway. Thick black smoke was seen billowing out from a single-storey brick structure where the aircraft crashed. Manufactured by state-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the Tejas aircraft is a potent platform for air combat and offensive air support missions while reconnaissance and anti-ship operations are its secondary roles.
Tejas aircraft are set to be the mainstay of the IAF. It has already inducted nearly 40 Tejas of initial variants. In February 2021, the defence ministry sealed a Rs 48,000 crore deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for the procurement of 83 Tejas MK-1A jets for the IAF. In November last, the ministry accorded an initial approval to procure an additional batch of 97 Tejas jets for the IAF.
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