MiG-29K trainer aircraft crashes into Arabian Sea, one pilot rescued, another missing

New Delhi, Nov 27: A MiG-29K trainer aircraft operating at sea crashed at around 5 pm on Thursday. While one pilot has been rescued, a search operation is underway to find the second.

An inquiry has been ordered into the incident.

"A MiG-29K trainer aircraft of Indian Navy operating at sea ditched at about 1700 hrs on 26 Nov 20. One pilot has been recovered and search by air and surface units is in progress for the second pilot. An inquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident," the Indian Navy said in a statement.

The Navy has deployed surveillance aircraft and ships to locate the missing pilot. Sources said the Russian-origin jet had taken off from aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. A high-level inquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident, the officials said.

The INS Vikramaditya was part of the recent Malabar exercise involving the navies of India, the US, Australia and Japan. The Indian Navy has a fleet of around 40 MiG-29K fighter jets and some of them operate from the aircraft carrier.