New Delhi: A bird-hit Indian Air Force (IAF) Jaguar aircraft jettisoned its practice bombs, fuel tanks after one of its engines failed in Punjab’s Ambala on Thursday morning. The IAF Jaguar's pilot managed to then land the aircraft safely away from a residential area at the Ambala airbase.


It is said that the IAF pilot was on a routine sortie leading to engine failure after a bird hit. No casualties have been reported so far and more details are awaited.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said that as many as 33 Indian Air Force aircraft, including 19 fighter jets, met with accidents since 2015-16.

During 2015-16, IAF's four fighter jets, one helicopter, transporter, and trainer aircraft each met with accidents, he said. In the 2016-17 fiscal, six IAF fighter jets, two helicopters, and one trainer crashed. In 2017-18, the Air Force lost two fighter jets and three trainer aircraft in crashes. The number rose sharply in 2018-19 with the IAF losing seven fighter jets, two helicopters, and two trainers.

In 2019-20, so far, an AN-32 transport aircraft crashed in Arunachal Pradesh, killing 13 air force personnel earlier this month.

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