New Delhi: Russia has informed India that the
crash of a MiG 29K fighter jet, which was manufactured for the
Indian Navy, was due to pilot error and there was no need for
it to ground its such planes here.
India had sought clarifications from Russia after a
MiG-29KUB twin-seater fighter, which was part of the Admiral
Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal, crashed in south Russian
Astrakhan region on Wednesday killing its two-member crew.
"The Russians have told us that the crashed aircraft went
through an extreme manoeuvre due to pilot error which resulted
in the accident and there was no need for us to ground our
aircraft," a senior Naval officer said.
He said the aircraft was coming back to its base after
carrying out weapon trials when the crash took place.
India had placed orders for 16 MiG 29Ks from Russia under
a deal worth over USD 900 million in 2004 and some of these
planes have already been inducted into service at Goa.
India had said if there was a technical reason behind the
crash, it would also consider grounding its fleet of the
aircraft.
The Russian Defence Ministry had grounded the entire
MiG-29K fleet on June 23 after the incident.
India is the only customer of the Russian-built MiG-29K,
45 of which will be inducted into service in next few years at
Navy`s INS Hansa air base and will be operated from the
Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier.
PTI
