One Pilot Fatally Injured, Two Others Injured But Eject And Survive

One Indian Air Force Pilot was fatally injured Tuesday when two aircraft rehearsing for a performance at Aero India 2019 collided in mid air. Two other pilots were able to safely eject from their crippled airplane.

The pilots were part of the INF aerobatics team known as Surya Kiran (Rays of the Sun). Video captured by people watching the practice show one of the jets falling from the sky spinning out of control, while another video shows two good parachutes coming from the other aircraft.

The Russian news service RT reports that the accident occurred near Yelahanka base near Bangalore. No other details were immediately available about the accident. A Twitter user was able to capture and image of one of the jets with its nose torn completely off.

The team was formed in 1996 but suspended in 2011 due to a shortage of training aircraft. It was reestablished two years ago. The team initially flew HJT-16 Kiran Mk. II training aircraft. It switched to a four-ship team flying Hawk Mk-132 jets after being reestablished, according to Wikipedia.

(Image from video posted to Twitter by user Nagarjun Dwarakanath [@nagarjund])

FMI: Source report