India's MiG-29K Fighter Aircraft Crashes Off Goa Coast Following Technical Malfunction

On Wednesday, a MiG 29K fighter jet carrying out a normal mission off the coast of Goa crashed into the water. The Indian Navy claims that the aircraft's technical fault on the way back to base is what caused the tragedy.

The pilot made a safe exit, and a prompt search and rescue effort led to his recovery. Recent reports indicate that the pilot's condition is stable.

MiG 29K Jet Develops Unknown Technical Failure

The event was announced on Twitter by the Navy. A MiG 29K that was performing a normal sortie over the water off Goa experienced a technical issue while returning to base.

The pilot successfully evacuated, and during a prompt SAR mission, he was located. The pilot stated that his health was good. It was asked to investigate the cause of the occurrence.

The MiG-29K fighter planes, which India purchased from Russia together with Admiral Gorshkov and christened INS Vikramaditya, are only flown by the Indian Navy.

The MiG-29K aircraft jets don't have a great safety record. The force is currently considering purchasing 25-26 foreign fighter aircraft for operations from the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, which the Prime Minister recently dedicated at Kochi.

At the naval base INS Hansa in Goa, the MiG-29s are stationed. An Indian Navy pilot named Nishant Singh perished in 2020 after his MiG-29K crashed into the Arabian Sea, as per Live Mint.

With this disaster, the Navy now has 40 of the 45 supersonic MiG-29Ks that were imported from Russia between 2009 and 2010 for a total of $2 billion to fly from the deck of the $2.33 billion INS Vikramaditya, a 44,500-ton aircraft carrier.

Four MiG-29K fighters have crashed in the last four years, raising concerns about their operational viability. Following the September 2 commissioning of the 45,000-tonne INS Vikrant, the nation's first indigenous aircraft carrier, the Navy is currently actively looking for an extra 26 carrier-based fighters.

After the MiG-29Ks have completed critical flight testing from INS Vikrant's expansive deck by about mid-2023, the ship will be completely combat-ready. It is outfitted with cutting-edge weapons including the Israeli-made Barak-8 surface-to-air missile system with an 80 km range, according to The Times Of India via MSN.

MiG 29K's 2020 Crash Killed Fighter Pilot

The MiG-29K is equipped with a Russian-made ejection seat known as the K-36D-3.5, which is widely regarded as the most sophisticated in the world. If the ejection handles are pulled, the pilot in the back seat is ejected first, followed by the pilot in the front.

In November 2020, a jet pilot perished in a MiG-29K crash. Commander Nishant Singh's body was found 11 days after the crash, while one of the pilots was rescued shortly after the tragedy.

In February of the same year, a second MiG-29K crashed after being struck by birds. Before ejecting, both pilots had guided the plane away from habitation, an action that Union Minister of State for Defense Shripad Naik praised. A MiG-29K trainer plane went down outside a Goan village in November 2019. Both pilots had safely evacuated, NDTV reported.

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