The Indian Air Force on Wednesday said the two pilots of Su-30MKI which crashed last week “sustained fatal injuries,” formally declaring them dead.
“Sqn. Ldr. D. Pankaj and Flt. Lt. S. Achudev, pilots of the Su-30 aircraft, sustained fatal injuries when the aircraft crashed approximately 60 km from the Tezpur airbase on May 23,” the IAF said in a statement.
The IAF stated that analysis of the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and certain other articles recovered from the crash site revealed that the pilots could not initiate ejection before the crash.
The Su-30 aircraft with two pilots was on a routine training mission. The wreckage was located on Saturday not far from the last known location.
