The Indian Air Force has grounded the entire fleet of MiG-21 aircraft till the investigation into the reason behind the crash over Rajasthan earlier this month are ascertained and checks carried out. Three people were killed earlier this month after a MiG-21 Bison aircraft airborne from Suratgarh airbase crashed over Hanumangarh in a village on May 8.
"The MiG-21 fleet has been grounded till the investigations are carried out and reasons for the crash are ascertained," reported news agency ANI quoting an official from the defence department as saying.
The MiG-21 aircraft variants started getting inducted into the Indian Air Force over five decades and are on the verge of being phased out.
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At present there are only three MiG squadrons operating in the Air Force and all of them will be phased out by early part of 2025, the official added.
The fighter jet that crashed earlier this month was on a routine training sortie when it met with the accident. The pilot had suffered minor injuries after which a probe was launched to look into the exact cause of the crash.
All the three deceased were women while three others were reported injured.
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Superintendent of Police, Hanumangarh, Sudheer Chaudhary said that the plane crashed on the house of one Ratti Ram, killing his wife Basho Kaur and two other women identified as Leela Devi and Banto Kaur. Burn injuries led to the death of the women, he said, as per PTI.
The IAF has 31 combat aircraft squadrons including three of the MiG-21 Bison variant.
The MIG-21 was inducted into the IAF in the 1960s and 800 variants of the fighter have been in service.
The crash rate of MiG-21 aircraft has been a cause of concern in recent times as many of them have met with accidents and have been notoriously dubbed as “flying coffin” and “widowmaker”.