Two young pilots of the Indian Air Force died when their microlight aircraft crashed near the river island of Majuli in Assam, said Defence PRO Harsh Wardhan Pande.
Wing commanders Jai Paul James and D Vats suffered fatal injuries in the crash.
The aircraft took off from the Jorhat air base on Thursday on a routine bird recce sortie. The wreckage was found at Sumoi Mari village near Majuli, south of Kamalabari. Air Commodore S K Verma, Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of Jorhat based Air Force Station said that a court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident.
Police in the island district confirmed the deaths. The incident took place at Sumoimari Chapori, a police officer said, adding that Defence and IAF personnel were on their way to Majuli.
A microlight aircraft crashed in #Assam during a routine sortie, both pilots onboard lost their lives. Inquiry ordered to ascertain cause of accident. pic.twitter.com/OYTNmhXbOG
— ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2018
The 2 IAF pilots killed in today’s Microlight crash have been identified as:
Wing Cdr Jai Paul James
Wing Cdr T Vats pic.twitter.com/alYvgJHFjb— Livefist (@livefist) February 15, 2018
