An Indian Air Force (IAF) trainer aircraft, which was on a routine sortie, crashed on a salt pan at Thiruporur close to the coastal heritage town Mamallapuram in adjoining Chengalpattu district of Tamil Nadu on Friday.
However, the alert pilot ejected himself to safety and no one was hurt in the incident, defence sources said here.
The crash, according to the sources, was a technical snag that the aircraft developed shortly after taking off from the Tambaram Airforce Station in Chennai. As the pilot noticed the snag, he ejected himself to safety using the parachute.
On being alerted, senior police and revenue officials of the district and IAF personnel visited the spot and held preliminary inquiries. A Court of Inquiry (CoI) has been ordered into the incident.
This crash comes a day after a civilian trainer aircraft, Cessna, of a private flying club in Salem, landed on the Trichy-Pudukottai National Highway in which the pilot and the trainee pilot had a miraculous escape, though the tiny carrier suffered damages in its nose. The crash landing was due to a technical snag and leakage of fuel.