Dynamite News Tejas fuel tank falls in field near Sulur air base in TN; IAF to probe
The fuel tank of an indigenous LCA Tejas combat aircraft fell during a training sortie by the Indian Air Force near Sulur air base in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday morning.
Sulur: The fuel tank of an indigenous LCA Tejas combat aircraft fell during a training sortie by the Indian Air Force near Sulur air base in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday morning.
The incident took place while the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) was airborne.
Also Read |
Army aircraft crashes in Bihar's Gaya, pilots safe
"Today morning at around 0840h, one fuel drop tank fell off from a Tejas aircraft on a routine sortie from Sulur Air Base near Coimbatore. The aircraft landed back safely after the incident. No damage was reported on ground. The cause of the incident is being investigated," the IAF said in a statement.
This is the probably the first reported incident involving an LCA Tejas aircraft ever since it was inducted into the Indian Air Force.
IAF: Today morning at around 0840h, one fuel drop tank fell off from a Tejas aircraft on a routine sortie from Sulur Air Base near Coimbatore. The aircraft landed back safely after the incident. No damage was reported on ground. The cause of the incident is being investigated. pic.twitter.com/jq1ZH31tTp
Also Read | IAF aircraft carrying Indian officials lands in Gujarat's Jamnagar
— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2019
This is the second incident in the last one week where an IAF fighter plane has had to jettison its fuel tank.
Last week, a Jaguar had to drop its external stores including fuel tanks and practice bombs after a bird hit resulted in engine flame right before take off from Ambala air base. The Tejas LCA is a supersonic, single-seat, single-engine multirole light fighter jet that has been under development since 1983 by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
On July 1, 2016, the LCA Tejas was inducted into the 'Flying Daggers' 45 Squadron of the IAF and has been placed to replace the MiG-21 aircraft. (ANI)