Flights of IAF Sukhoi-30 MKI stopped from Trishul base

Bareilly (UP), Dec 15: After the crash of IAF Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft in Pune, all its flights from Trishul airforce station here have been stopped and all aircraft are being checked.

"All the flights of Sukhoi has been stopped from here and checking of aircrafts is underway," Chief Administrative Officer of Trishul Airforce Station S K Bhatnagar said. "Crash of Sukhoi is not a common phenomenon.

An inquiry is underway to ascertain the reason of the Pune crash," he said. The aircraft which had taken off from the Lohegaon airbase on a routine mission, presumably developed a technical snag and crashed at Wade Bholai village, about 20 km from Pune on Tuesday.

Both the pilots ejected to safety. The jet crashed at 1.30 PM, around 50 minutes after it took off, officials said. This is the third time a Sukhoi fighter plane crashed since their induction into the IAF in 1997. A Court of Inquiry (CoI) has been ordered to look into the reasons behind the crash, Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju told reporters in New Delhi yesterday.

PTI