Another Jaguar falls in Ambala

An Indian Air Force Jaguar aircraft crashed on Friday within three minutes of take-off from the air base in Ambala. The pilot, Squadron Lead...

An Indian Air Force Jaguar aircraft crashed on Friday within three minutes of take-off from the air base in Ambala. The pilot, Squadron Leader Tamaskar however, managed to bail out safely. This is the fourth Jaguar that this air base has lost in recent years. Last year, on July 22, a Jaguar had crashed on the runway.

The jet, which missed the unauthorised colony of Manmohan Nagar near here, crashed at around 4.40 pm. No casualties were reported on the ground.

Eyewitnesses who saw the pilot bail out, say the aircraft caught fire within minutes after take-off. Pointing to the crater where the aircraft crashed Shiv Charan Singh said the wreckage which was spread over eight acres did not cause any damage to life or property. ASI Virender Singh said he was on patrol duty on the approach road linking the Ambala-Chandigarh road to Jadaut village, when he spotted the parachute and followed it. The police party rescued the pilot and gave him first-aid after which he was taken to the military hospital in an ambulance that the police had requisitioned from the Sasan Nursing Home in Baldev Nagar.

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The pilot, 6Squadron Leader Tamaskar suffered minor injuries on his neck and left leg, but was fully conscious.

Air Force personnel took a while to reach the crash site but were quick to retrieve the black box. Deputy Commissioner H.S. Malik and SSP Mohammed Akil were among the other officials who rushed to the spot after hearing of the crash. It was the police party at Panjokhra which first sighted the debris and alerted the Air Force personnel. The area was cordoned off on orders of the SSP after people from nearby villages streamed in to see the wreckage.