Two pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were killed after a Su-30MKI fighter jet crashed in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district during a training sortie, the force confirmed on Friday.
The aircraft had gone missing shortly after taking off from the Jorhat airbase on Thursday evening before the crash was confirmed hours later.
"The IAF acknowledges the loss of Sqn Ldr Anuj and Flt Lt Purvesh Duragkar, who sustained fatal injuries in the Su-30 crash," the IAF said in a brief statement.
"All personnel of the IAF express sincere condolences, and stand firmly with the bereaved family in this time of grief," it said.
Officials earlier said communication with the Russian-origin aircraft was lost at 7:42 pm on Thursday, shortly after it took off from the Jorhat airbase. The jet had been on a routine training mission when it disappeared from radar.
At approximately 1 am on Friday, the IAF confirmed that the Su-30MKI had crashed in the Karbi Anglong area, around 60 km from Jorhat.
The Su-30MKI is a two-seater multirole long-range fighter jet developed by Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi and built under licence in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for the IAF. The force operates a fleet of over 260 such jets.
In recent years, a Sukhoi fighter plane crashed in Maharashtra’s Nashik district in June 2024, while another Su-30 jet went down in January 2023 shortly after taking off from the Gwalior airbase.
