Two Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots were killed after a Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter jet crashed in India’s northeastern state of Assam on Thursday.

The IAF said that the pilots were Squadron Leader Anuj and Flight Lieutenant Purvesh Duragkar.

 

In a post on X, the air force said that all personnel expressed condolences and stood with the families of the deceased pilots.

 

According to officials, the aircraft was on a training mission and had taken off from Jorhat airbase. Communication with the aircraft was lost at 7:42pm.

The jet later crashed in Karbi Anglong district, around 60 kilometres from the base.

Residents in the area said they heard an explosion from the hills and saw flames rising from the crash site.

 

India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he was saddened by the deaths of the two pilots. In a post on X, he wrote that their service to the country would be remembered.

The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is a two-seat fighter aircraft developed by Russia’s Sukhoi. It is now built under licence by state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the IAF.

 

The aircraft was inducted into the IAF in 1997 and the force operates more than 260 jets of the same type.

A Sukhoi-30 aircraft crashed in Nashik in June 2024, while another jet of the same type went down in January 2023 after taking off from the Gwalior airbase.

The crash took place weeks after the IAF lost a HAL Tejas jet when it overshot the runway at a frontline airbase and suffered damage to its airframe.

 

Another Tejas aircraft crashed during a demonstration flight at the Dubai Airshow in November last year, killing the pilot.