The Hindu Business Line : MiG-21 crashes, one pilot killed

This was the first MiG crash in Bangalore and the first to happen this year. Preliminary assessment speaks of a bird-hit, but a court of inquiry is looking into the exact cause, the IAF spokesman, Wing Commander V.M. Raghunath, said.

Several flights to and from Bangalore were held up between 12.40 p.m. and 3 p.m., sources said. An Air Sahara flight to Delhi took off 10 minutes before the incident from the same runway. Flights of almost all operators were affected, with a flight from Mumbai being diverted to Chennai.

Scores of MiG crashes and pilot deaths have plagued the Air Force in recent years, some of them suspected to be due to technical problems. This comes at a time when the Air Force has been trying hard to reduce them, he said.

The aircraft on a routine sortie lost power soon after take off at 30-50 metres height. Squadron Leader K.R. Murthy, in his early 30s and among the chosen 10 test pilots, and Flight Engineer K.D. Bhat promptly ejected.

"The circumstances of today were against the pilot; the aircraft fell on the southern side of the runway but the winds blowing from the north pushed his parachute into the flames and the pilot got detached from the parachute," he said. The engineer is safe, fine and lucid, he said.

The MiG crashed around 12.45 p.m. and the pilot died in hospital at 1.30 p.m.

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