IAF's Mirage aircraft crashes near Bengaluru’s HAL airport, pilots dead

Bengaluru, Feb 01: Two Indian Air Force pilots died after a Mirage 2000 crashed at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Airport in Bengaluru.

It was a twin-seat variant and both the pilots ejected during their take-off run. However, despite ejecting, both perished in this unfortunate incident. The reason of the crash is yet to be ascertained. According to reports, the incident happened near Yamalur off old Airport Road in Bengaluru.

#Mirage2000 Jet crashed at @HALHQBLR , crash happened during take off .. both pilots died in the accident ....@NewsNationTV pic.twitter.com/u0Uv4KoDx7

— yasir mushtaq (@path2shah) February 1, 2019

The two pilots have been identified as Squadron Leader Siddharth Negi and Squadron Leader Sameer Abrol, who were both part of Aircraft and System Testing Establishment iin Bengaluru.

HAL tweeted, "A Mirage-2000 aircraft crashed at HALAirport during a sortie today at around 10:30 am. Both pilots ejected. Further details are awaited."

A Mirage-2000 aircraft crashed at HALAirport during a sortie today at around 10:30 am. Both pilots ejected. Further details are awaited. @drajaykumar_ias @DefProdnIndia @SpokespersonMoD @gopalsutar

— HAL (@HALHQBLR) February 1, 2019

The state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) makes and upgrades aircraft for training and combat operations of the IAF as the country's sole defence behemoth. It also maintains and operates the military airport in Bengaluru.

It may be recalled that in June 2018, a pilot was killed after an Indian Air Force Jaguar fighter jet crashed soon after taking off from the Jamnagar airbase in Gujarat.