A microlight aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed in Assam on Thursday, killing both pilots on board.
“An IAF Microlight Virus SW-80 crashed around 1200 hrs, after getting airborne from the Air Force Station Jorhat, for a routine sortie,” the IAF said in a statement. The pilots were identified as Wg. Cdr. J. James and Wg. Cdr. D. Vats.
The IAF uses microlight aircraft for weather and bird recce. They are also used by the National Cadet Corps and flying clubs across the country.
The aircraft crashed around noon, soon after taking off from the Jorhat air base. The pilots attempted an emergency landing but the aircraft crashed in a sand bar in the northern part of the district and went up in flames, Tezpur-based defence spokesperson Lt. Col. Harshvardhan Pande told PTI .
The crash took place at Darbar Chapori, a sand bar in the Brahmaputra where there is no human habitation.
