Indian trainer jet crashes into the Arabian Sea

An Indian Navy trainer aircraft, MiG-29K, crashed into the Arabian Sea on Thursday morning, reported The Hindu.

“One pilot recovered, and search by air and surface units is in progress for the second pilot,” said the Indian Navy in a statement. An inquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident.

INS Vikramaditya, along with the fighter jet, was deployed in the Malabar naval exercise alongside US Navy carrier USS Kitty Hawk in the northern part of the Arabian Sea. The exercise held in two phases saw the participation of India, Australia, Japan, and the US.

This is the fourth crash involving the MiG-29K aircraft.

In February, a MiG29K aircraft had crashed in Goa during a training exercise. The pilot was rescued safely.

In November last year, a twin-seater MiG29K had crashed following a collision with a bird after taking off from Goa naval air base.

In January 2018, a MiG-29K crashed as it veered off the runway at the INS Hansa base in Goa.