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At Least 8 Killed When Indian Air Force Jet Hits Building
Friday, May 3, 2002
(1:51 PM ET)
By Deepak Sharma
Associated Press Writer

Wreckage of Indian Air Force MiG-21 jet is seen in a house near the Bank of Rajasthan building near Jullundur, India, on Friday, May 3, after the jet fighter crashed into the bank building. At least seven people were killed and 20 injured when the jet fighter nose-dived into the building near Jullundur in the northwestern Indian State of Punjab.
Image Credit: Devinder Luthera -- AP.

The air force grounded all MiG-21s used for training to conduct mechanical checks. Patrol flights were not suspended.

JULLUNDUR, India -- AP
An Indian air force jet on routine frontier patrol crashed into a bank building Friday in northwestern India, starting a fire that killed at least eight people and injured 19, police and hospital officials said.

The pilot, who survived, reported that the Soviet-made MiG-21 had suffered engine failure, Air Force Chief S. Krishnaswamy said in New Delhi. India's aging MiG fleet is prone to crashes, with 100 in the last six years, killing 50 pilots.

"I saw the fighter jet roll over a couple of times before it hurtled down," said Sunil Malhotra, a software programmer who was standing on the balcony of his house. "I saw a blast in the sky and within 20 seconds, the plane fell. I saw the pilot and co-pilot parachuting down."

The rear portion of the plane burned up, Malhotra said, and the front crashed into the two-story building in the Basti Adda neighborhood of Jullundurbank building, with parts hitting other buildings.
(More: The Nando Times News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

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