A Jaguar fighter jet of the Indian Air Force has crashed in Gujarat’s Jamnagar. One pilot has ejected and a search is on for the other. 

“While one pilot safely ejected before the crash, another one is still missing. The aircraft caught fire after the crash. Police and firefighters have rushed to the spot and started searching for the missing pilot,” news agency PTI quoted Superintendent of Police Premsukh Delu as saying. 

Videos from the spot, in Suvarda village, 12 km from Jamnagar city, showed what appeared to be a field on fire with the cockpit of the crashed plane and its tail – which can be seen lying in different areas – also burning. 

Indian Air Force (IAF) officials said the twin-seater Jaguar was on a routine training sortie.

The Jaguar is a twin-engine fighter bomber, with single and twin-seat variants, which is very widely used in the IAF. First inducted in the late 70s, it has been heavily upgraded over the years. 

On March 7, another Jaguar aircraft of the IAF had crashed in Ambala after facing a system malfunction. The pilot had manoeuvred the plane away from habitation and then ejected safely.