The wreckage of the fighter plane after it crashed at Nararthali. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Nararthali (Alipurduar), Nov. 17: A MiG-23 out on a training sortie from the Hasimara base of the Indian Air Force crashed into a tin shanty here and burst into flames after the two pilots on board bailed out safely.

There were no casualties on the ground as the shanty was empty of residents. People of Nararthali village, about 25km from Alipurduar town, had spotted the flaming fighter jet and seen the two pilots ejecting themselves before the aircraft crashed at 12.30pm and wiped out the tin house.

Bijoy Roy, the owner of the shack and a day labourer was away at work, his two children were in school and wife Minati at the Kamakshyaguri block hospital to get her blood sugar checked.

A force from the Kumargram police station arrived at the spot and took Wing Commander M. Sisodia and Flight Lieutenant Ramesh Kartik to the nearby Khoardanga police camp.

At 2pm, a team of IAF officers and a doctor arrived from the Hasimara air base in a helicopter. An officer in the team said both the pilots were unhurt, but the Flight Lieutenant had slightly injured his back. Both of them were taken to the air force hospital, 76km away, around 2.15pm.

According to PTI, this is the seventh IAF aircraft crash this year and the third MiG to crash over the Dooars. A MiG-21 had crash-landed at the Bagdogra air base on May 23. The pilot was rescued uninjured. On January 31, a MiG-27 crashed to the ground within 35 metres of a 6-year-old girl in Bhatpara Tea Garden in Jalpaiguri district. Wing Commander Jasbir Singh had bailed out with minor injuries.

More than a thousand curious people gathered at the spot today to see the flaming wreckage and the flattened shack.

Bhabani Roy, the wife of Bijoy brother, said she was still shaken by the experience. “I was cooking when some boys playing outside began shouting that a plane had caught fire. I ran out and saw the two pilots in their parachutes. But the aircraft came straight down towards our village and crashed into dada’s house. I could feel the heat from the flames,” she said.

Bijoy claimed that he had paddy worth Rs 20,000 stored in his house. “We had a bed made of wood, two trunks full of clothes, utensils and paddy, besides my children’s books. I had gone to an adjacent village to work. People there told me about it around 1pm. Till the house is rebuilt — I hope the government will give me money — my brother has invited us to stay with him. I am thankful that there had been no greater harm.”

According to sources in the IAF, the aircraft had taken off from Hasimara about 15 minutes prior to the crash.

“We have to locate the black box and ascertain the cause of the crash. Our officers and the local administration will assess the damage caused to the property on the ground and pay compensation to those affected,” one of them said.

S. R. Mishra, the additional police superintendent of Alipurduar, said the fire brigade had doused the flames.

The affected family would be compensated, Alice Vez, the sub-divisional officer said. “We have not spoken to the air force authorities yet. However, the block development officer has been asked to submit a report on the loss,” she said. “We in turn, will write to the air force. We will also compensate them from state government funds.”