Indian Air Force Orders Inquiry Into Mirage Crash

The Indian Air Force aircraft fighter Mirage 2000 crashed near Bhind in Madhya Pradesh, five minutes after taking off from an air base in Gwalior at about 12:10 pm IST on Friday. The Mirage 2000 was being flown by Air Marshal Anil Chopra, a Air Office Personnel (AOP) when the engine developed a glitch and caused the crash. Air Marshal Chopra and Wing Commander Ram Kumar ejected safely. Local authorities found the wreckage of the fighter plane in the ravines of Chambal near Kunwari river, according to Chambal Range's Deputy Inspector General (DIG) D P Gupta “There was no damage to civil property and no individual was injured/killed as a result of the crash. An inquiry has been ordered to investigate the reasons for the accident,” the spokesman for the IAF in New Delhi said. Meanwhile, the IAF has ordered a court of inquiry (CoI) under a senior officer to ascertain the reasons behind the crash. Currently, the IAF manages a fleet of 51 Mirage aircraft from the Maharajpura air base in Gwalior. Friday’s incident is the first time an aircraft has cashed due to engine problems taking the total number of crashes to five since its induction two decades ago.