MiG-21 crashes in Haryana, pilot safe

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: A MiG-21 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed on Friday near Sirsa in Haryana.

The plane had taken off from an Air Base near Sirsa. The pilot is said to be safe.

This is the seventh air crash involving IAF`s fighter aircraft this year and the fifth belonging to the MiG-21 series warplane.

In view of the increasing number of accidents involving the MiG-21 aircraft type, the IAF has decided to phase them out by 2017.

The force is also planning to allow only experienced fighter pilots to fly the plane from next year.

Of the total 976 MiG-21s inducted in the service since 1960s, over half of them have been lost in air crashes.