Indian Air Force aircraft met with an accident in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer
An Indian Air Force aircraft met with an accident in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer on Tuesday. The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas of the Indian Air Force crashed near Jaisalmer during an operational training sortie. The pilot has ejected safely.
Reacting to the incident the Indian Air Force said in a statement, “One Tejas aircraft of the Indian Air Force met with an accident at Jaisalmer, today during an operational training sortie. The pilot ejected safely. A Court of Inquiry has been constituted to find out the cause of the accident.”
The recent crash marks the first incident involving the indigenous jet since its inaugural flight 23 years ago. The Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, a domestically produced supersonic aircraft utilized by the Indian military, is at the centre of this mishap. Initiated by the Government of India in 1984, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program led to the establishment of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) to oversee its development. HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited), India’s own aerospace company, spearheaded the design and development of the LCA Tejas. In 2003, the program was officially dubbed ‘Tejas,’ which translates to ‘radiance’ in Sanskrit, by then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It is the second supersonic fighter jet developed by HAL (the first one being HAL HF-24 Marut).
Earlier last month, a Hawk trainer aircraft of the IAF met with an accident during a training sortie in West Bengal. The plane crashed in the civilian area near the Kalaikunda Air Force Station. However, there was no loss of life or damage to any civilian property. Both the pilots ejected safely.
This article is originally published on Hindustantimes.News!
