New Delhi: An Indian Air Force Sukhoi-30 fighter jet on Tuesday lost radar and radio contact 60km north of Tezpur in Assam. Two pilots are on-board the aircraft.
The plane went missing at 11:30 am, around 60 km north of the Tezpur IAF base from where it had taken off, said a defence spokesman and the deputy commissioner of Sonitpur district where the IAF station is located.
Defence public relations officer (Guwahati/Shillong), Lt. Col. Suneet Newton told PTI that the aircraft had lost radar and radio contact with the airbase.
Sonitpur district Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar Deka told reporters in Tezpur that the Air Force base had informed him that the Su-30 plane with two pilots had taken off from the airbase at 10.30 am for a regular sortie and lost contact with the IAF air traffic control over Dubia in nearby Gohpur.
The Air Force, after carrying out a search on its network, informed the deputy commissioner about the incident. The DC said he then immediately alerted the neighbouring district administrations about the missing plane. A search is on for the aircraft, he added.
The Sukhoi Su-30 is a Russian-made, twin-engine fighter meant for all-weather, air-to-air and air-to-surface missions. The first of the Su-30 planes were inducted by the IAF in the late 1990s.
Since their induction, six crashes have taken place. An inquiry into the plane accidents has primarily indicated technical failure as their cause.
Earlier this month, another Sukhoi-30MKI of the IAF crashed in Rajasthan's Barmer district, leaving three villagers injured.
However, both the pilots of the twin-engine aircraft ejected safely.
The government had, earlier this month, informed the Rajya Sabha that as many as 22 fighter aircraft of IAF have crashed since 2013-14 and human error and technical defects were the main reasons for the accidents.
(With PTI inputs)
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