An Indian Air Force training aircraft crashed in Hyderabad today, Air Force sources said. The two-seat trainer was being flown by a flight cadet, who escaped unhurt, they added. The aircraft has been completely destroyed in the mishap. A court of inquiry will ascertain the cause.
The pilot, believed to have taken off from the Hakimpet Airforce Station, ejected about 2 km from the crash site with the help of a parachute. After landing, the trainee cadet was able to contact his colleagues using his cellphone.
The process of ejecting from an aircraft is a brutal one and he would have to undergo a lot of medical tests to ascertain if there is any damage particularly to his spinal cord, sources added.
The Kiran MK-2 aircraft, an indigenously manufactured trainer, has been in use for several decades. Although it’s considered an elderly aircraft in terms on design, it is one of the main training platforms.
The two-pilot aircraft was, however, being flown by a flight cadet at the time of the accident. Sources says that it’s a standard procedure, if a pilot is proficient enough to fly the aircraft, to do these sorties alone as part of their training.
source: ndtv
