IAF plane AN-32 involved in ‘incident’ in West Bengal's Bagdogra after jet crashes in Haryana, crew safe — check photo

In the second incident in the span of a few hours, an Indian Air Force plane, an AN-32 transport aircraft, was involved in a ‘serious incident’ in West Bengal's Bagdogra on Friday.

The incident took place after a Jaguar jet crashed in Haryana's Panchkula.

“An accident involving an AN-32 transport aircraft at Bagdogra airport has come to light today. The aircraft is being recovered from the site,” reported ANI, quoting Indian Air Force officials.

The officials said that the crew of the aircraft, which is of Russian origin, is safe.

Earlier in the day, Indian Air Force's Jaguar aircraft, which was on a routine training sortie from Ambala, crashed in the Raipurrani area of Haryana's Panchkula district with the pilot ejecting safely.

The pilot maneuvered the aircraft away from any habitation on the ground and there was no loss of life or injury reported to anyone on the ground.

The IAF, in a post on X, said its Jaguar aircraft crashed at Ambala during a routine training sortie after encountering system malfunction. "The pilot manoeuvred the aircraft away from any habitation on the ground before ejecting safely. An inquiry has been ordered by the IAF, to ascertain the cause of the accident," the post said.

Earlier in February, a Mirage-2000 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed in an agriculture field in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district after developing a snag.

In September 2024, A MiG-29 aircraft of the IAF crashed in Rajasthan's Barmer district.

Meanwhile, in another development, ANI reported that a high-level Defence Ministry committee has accepted the need to acquire new multi-role fighter aircraft to enhance the IAF's fighting capabilities.

The committee submitted the recommendations to the government when the US was pushing for selling its single-engine F-35 fifth-generation fighter aircraft while the Russian side was offering its Su-57 fifth-generation fighter.