Hasimara, Feb. 3: The MiG-27 that crashed in Bhatpara Tea Estate on Thursday afternoon had developed a snag minutes after takeoff from the Indian Air Force station here, the pilot said.

Sitting in room 142 of the station hospital, Wing Commander Jaspreet Singh today said he had immediately radioed the air traffic control about trouble in the engine.

“I tried my best to get back to base safely, but the engine caught fire and I ejected.”

The plane spiralled away, spewing smoke, and crashed 3km away at 12.35pm, seven minutes after take off. It missed six-year-old Niki Thapa, who was plucking flowers on the way home from school, by a few metres.

“I was told that I had parachuted down on Raimatang Tea Estate. The people there were very helpful and provided me with a Maruti Omni and drove me to the Kalchini police station,” the pilot said.

Singh was flown back to the air station in a chopper that landed on the field in front of the police station.

The commanding officer at the hospital said Singh was “in good health”.

“I was lucky to survive and also glad to hear that there were no casualties on the ground,” said the pilot.

Singh, who joined the IAF in 1993, was transferred here from Tezpur, Assam, last year.

“My wife gave birth to our second child, a son, on December 18. She told me over the phone she was coming to see me from Mohali soon,” he said.