Naval MiG-29K Crashes Off Goa Coast

Naval MiG-29K Crashes Off Goa Coast

A naval MiG-29K fighter jet crashed off the Goa coast after developing a technical malfunction on the morning of the 12th of October. Luckily, The pilot was able to eject safely and was saved in a speedy search and rescue operation. It was flown by a commander-rank officer, who was returning to land at the INS Hansa base at Goa after a routine sortie in the morning.
“The pilot ejected safely and was rescued in a swift helicopter search and rescue operation. He is in stable condition. The Navy has ordered a Board of Inquiry to investigate the cause of the incident,” an officer said in an official statement.

The MiG-29K is an all-weather carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft developed by Russian aerospace company Mikoyan (MiG). The Indian Navy is the world’s only organisation which operates the MiG-29K fighter aircraft acquired from Russia. The MiG-29s are deployed in Goa at the naval base INS Hansa.

A board of inquiry (BoI) has been ordered to investigate the cause of the crash. There have been many accidents so far noticed involving this aircraft in the past years. It was the fourth accident involving the MiG-29K since 2019.

The MiG-29K is fitted with the Russian-built K-36D-3.5 ejection seat, considered the most sophisticated in the world. In the event of the ejection handles being pulled, the pilot in the rear seat is ejected first, followed by the pilot in the front.

In November 2020, a fighter pilot died after a MiG-29K crash in November 2020. Although one of the pilots was rescued soon after the incident, Commander Nishant Singh’s body was recovered 11 days after the crash. Another MiG 29K crashed the same year in February after being hit by birds. Both pilots had steered the jet away from habitation before ejecting, an action which drew praise from Union Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik.

In November 2019, a MiG-29K trainer aircraft crashed outside a village in Goa. Both the pilots had ejected safely.