IAF pilot killed in Surya Kiran plane crash

Bidar (Karnataka), Jan 21 (ANI): An IAF fighter pilot on a training sortie was killed when a Surya Kiran trainer aircraft crashed in Bidar in Karnataka this morning.

According to sources, the pilot was on the Kiran Mk II trainer aircraft, when the mishap occurred.

"The aircraft took off from Bidar and the crash took place a few minutes later at a vacant plot near the air force station," sources added.

The Air Headquarters has ordered an inquiry into the mishap.

The Surya Kiran aerobatics team is the successor of the Thuderbolt team of the IAF, which was formed in 1982 as a fulltime public display team. The team comprises 13 pilots with only nine pilots flying at any given time.

Surya Kiran is rated as one of the best aerobatics formation team in the world along with the "Red Arrows" of the British Royal Air Force and Canada's "Snow Birds". (ANI)