Body of missing MiG-29 pilot found 11 days after crash

The body of the missing MiG-29 pilot Commander Nishant Singh was found on Monday, Indian Navy officials Commander Singh had gone missing on November 26 after his MiG-29K trainer aircraft crashed into the Arabian Sea. Rescue teams were able to rescue the other pilot onboard.

The Russian-origin twin-seat trainer jet went down off India’s west coast after taking off from the deck of the country’s only aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.

The Indian Navy deployed nine warships, 14 aircraft and a number of fast interceptor craft as part of the search and rescue mission to locate Commander Singh.

Some debris of the aircraft including landing gear, turbo charger and fuel tank engine were located last week.

The November 26 crash was the third such accident involving the MiG-29K maritime fighter fleet in the last one year.

A MiG-29K twin-seat fighter aircraft had crashed in South Goa district on November 16 last year, but both the pilots had ejected safely.

Another MIG-29K crashed into the Arabian Sea off the Goa coast on February 23 this year after taking off from INS Hansa, a prominent naval air station at Vasco in Goa.

The pilot of the aircraft had managed to eject safely.

The MiG-29K is an all-weather carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft developed by Russian aerospace company Mikoyan (MiG).

The Indian Navy had procured a fleet of 45 MiG-29Ks from Russia at a cost of around USD 2 billion to operate from INS Vikramaditya.