IAF Jaguar Fighter Crashes In Gujarat, Killing Senior Officer

An Indian Air Force (IAF) Jaguar fighter aircraft crashed in Gujarat’s Kutch early morning, killing a senior officer, local media reports.

The reports suggests that the plane flew from the Jamnagar air base and crashed in the Mundra taluk of Kutch district. The plane's debris was strewn on the fields near a village in Kutch, around 340 km from Ahmedabad.

The aircraft, flown by Air Commodore Sanjay Chauhan, was on a routine training mission, a defence spokesperson said. A Court of Inquiry (CoI) will investigate the cause of the accident.

"Today morning a Jaguar aircraft on a routine training mission from Jamnagar crashed around 10:30 hours. The pilot Air Cmde Sanjay Chauhan sustained fatal injuries during the crash. A CoI [Court of Inquiry] has been ordered to investigate cause of the accident," said Lt Col Manish Ojha.

The incident comes months after an IAF helicopter crashed in Assam's Majuli island, killing two pilots.

Jaguar is a deep penetration strike aircraft that can make fast, low-level dashes into enemy territory for precision strikes and bombing missions.