Sukhoi fighter jet with 2 pilots goes missing in Assam

May 25, 2017:  A Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet of the Indian Air Force with two pilots on board went missing after taking off from the Tezpur IAF base in Assam during a routine training sortie yesterday. A massive search operation has been launched to trace the plane and the pilots.

In a statement, Defence Ministry said, the help from civil administration and military authorities has also been sought for the search and rescue effort. It said, the fighter jet had taken off from the IAF station on the outskirts of Tezpur town at 10.30 am and it lost radar and radio contact around 60 km northeast of the airbase.

The Sukhoi-30 is a Russian-made, twin-engine supersonic fighter jet. The last Sukhoi accident occurred on March 15 this year when a Su-30 MKI had crashed in Rajasthan’s Barmer, hours after a Chetak helicopter crash landed and toppled in Kaushambi near Allahabad. Seven Sukhoi-30 fighter planes have crashed since their induction into the IAF in 1997.   (AIR NEWS)