A MiG-29K fighter of the Indian Navy crashed on Wednesday morning while on a routine sortie over the sea off Goa coast after it developed a technical malfunction while returning to base.
“The pilot ejected safely and has been recovered in a swift search and rescue operation. The pilot is reported to be in stable condition,” the Navy said in a statement. A Board of Inquiry (BoI) has been ordered to investigate the cause of the incident.
India contracted 45 MiG-29Ks from Russia which are based in Goa and operate off the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and soon from the indigenous carrier INS Vikrant.
Last November, a twin-seater MiG-29K crashed in the sea off Goa in which one pilot, Commander Nishant Singh, was killed while the other ejected to safety.
Aviation trails on INS Vikrant are set to commence in November and go on till the middle of next year. Initially, the carrier would be operating the existing MiG-29Ks in service, while a decision on procurement of an advanced fighter, between the Boeing F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet and the Dassault Aviation Rafale, is expected in the next few months.
In the long term, a twin engine deck-based fighter is being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation which is currently on the drawing board.
