New Delhi, Nov 10: Flight Lt Neehar Gururani, the pilot of the Mirage fighter aircraft which crashed near the Gwalior airbase last night, was killed in the accident, an IAF spokesman said here today.
The spokesman was clarifying reports attributed to police sources in Gwalior that the pilot had ejected safely.
Giving details of the crash, he said the ill-fated Mirage fighter had taken off from the Gwalior airbase at 2030 hours on a night exercise sortie. Fifteen minutes after take-off, the fighter lost radar and radio contact with ground.
The aircraft crashed at about 2045 hours last night.
He said the wreckage of the aircraft was later found 50
kms north-east of the Gwalior airbase and the body of the
killed pilot was retrieved and brought back to the base.
The Air Force has ordered a court of inquiry into the
cause of the crash.
This is the fourth crash involving a Mirage 2000 fighter
aircraft. These aircraft were inducted into the Air Force in
1987 and have had a much more cleaner flight safety records
than other fighters.
The pilot, Flight Lt Gururani is the son of Air Marshal S
Gururani, who retired recently as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief IAF maintenance command.
Bureau Report
