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IAF trainer aircraft crashes near Tamil Nadu’s Tambaram; pilot ejects safely
The ‘Pilatus PC-7’ was on a routine training mission when it crashed, said the defence wing of the Indian government in Chennai
An Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft crashed near Tambaram in Chennai on Friday and did not report any casualties, officials said.
The ‘Pilatus PC-7’ was on a routine training mission when it crashed, said the defence wing of the Indian government in Chennai.
“The pilot ejected himself safely,” said a statement from the defence wing.
“A court of Inquiry (COI) has been ordered to ascertain the cause,” it said.
Videos from the site showed debris of the crashed aircraft strewn across an empty land as locals gathered at the scene.
The Flying Instructor’s School (FIS) of the IAF is based at the Air Force Station in Tambaram that trains experienced pilots from the Indian Armed Forces and friendly foreign countries to graduate as ‘qualified flying instructors’.
The Pilatus PC-7 is a single -seater low-wing Swiss training aircraft that can perform basic training functions, such as aerobatics and night flying.
Locals had rushed to help the pilot before an IAF helicopter took him back to the base, those familiar with the matter said.
The Indian Air Force uses the Pilatus aircraft to train its young pilots during their initial training.
The aircrafts were acquired from Switzerland around 15 years ago and replaced the HPT-32 fleet.
In December 2023, a Pilatus aircraft had crashed, killing the two IAF pilots on board, an instructor and a cadet in Telangana’s Medak district during a training exercise.
