Two pilots dead as fighter jet crashes in Bengaluru

Publish: 2:03 PM, February 1, 2019 | Update: 2:03 PM, February 1, 2019

NEW DELHI  – Two pilots were killed in the morning as a twin-seat Indian Air Force Mirage 2000 crashed at Yemlur Airport in the southern city of Bengaluru immediately after taking off.

“Two pilots were killed after they ejected from a Mirage 2000 fighter during its take-off run at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited runway in Yemalur in Bengaluru this morning,” NDTV reported quoting Indian Air Force
officials this morning.

The incident took place at 10:30 am (local time). The Mirage 2000 is equipped with ‘zero-zero’ (zero speed, zero altitude) ejection seats which enable the pilots to bail out even if the aircraft is on the ground and is not moving.

It is unclear at what stage of the take-off run the fighter was in when the pilots decided to eject.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) operates 50 French-made Mirage 2000 fighters (after today’s crash) which are in the process of being upgraded. The fighters started entering service in 1985. The authorities have ordered to investigate the cause of accident, the TV report said.