West Bengal: IAF’s Hawk trainer jet crashes, pilots eject safely

A Hawk advanced jet trainer crashed on Thursday soon after take off from Air Force Station, Kalaikunda in West Midnapore due to a “technical snag” but both the pilots ejected safely.

A Hawk advanced jet trainer crashed on Thursday soon after take off from Air Force Station, Kalaikunda in West Midnapore due to a “technical snag” but both the pilots ejected safely.

In this handout photo, the Hawk 132, a fourth generation Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft is pictured on the tarmac at Naval Air Station INS Dega, near Visakhapatnam. (AFP File Photo)

IAF sources said that the aircraft developed a technical problem at about 1100 hours, minutes after taking off from Kalaikunda air station in West Bengal, where another Hawk had crashed in June last year.

The crash occurred within the boundary of the air station, 138km from Kolkata, and the two pilots ejected safely, they said.

“A Court of Inquiry has been instituted into the crash,” an IAF source said.

Last year in June, another Hawk crashed after taking off from Kalaikunda station as it developed a technical problem. Budding fighter pilots undergo their stage-III training for a year on Hawk.