A Hawk trainer aircraft, of Indian Air Force , met with an accident at Kalaikunda in the State of West Bengal on Tuesday during a training sortie. Both the pilots ejected themselves safely. Although the aircraft crash landed in a civilian area, no loss of life or property is reported . Cause of the accident is not known.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) in a statement had said that both the pilots ejected safely and a Court of Inquiry has been constituted to find out the cause of the accident.
The Court of Inquiry will look into various aspects surrounding the accident , including potential technical malfunctions or any kind of human error.
It is said that the aircraft Hawk crashed in a civilian area near the Kalaikunda Air Force Station between 4 pm and 5 pm while it was returning from the training exercise. Fortunately despite the proximity to civilian settlements, there were no casualties or damage to property reported. This Air Force Station in Kalaikunda primarily serves as a training base.
Hawk Aircraft :
Manufactured by BAE Systems, Hawk is an aircraft with a jet-powered advanced trainer used by various air forces around the world. Hawk is designed to provide training to pilots transitioning to high-performance fighter aircraft. It has a tandem-seat cockpit arrangement which allows an instructor pilot to fly alongside a trainee for providing guidance and instruction during sortie.