Prayagraj, August 3: A Cheetah Helicopter of the Indian Army made a precautionary landing near a village in the Karchhana area in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj district due to the blinking of a warning light, Indian Army officials informed on Wednesday. However, after a check-up by a technician flying in the chopper, it took off again safely and landed at its base in Prayagraj, officials added.

"A Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Army made a precautionary landing near a village in Karchhana area in UP due to blinking of a warning light. After a check-up by a technician flying in the chopper, it took off again safely and landed at its base in Prayagraj," said Army officials. The Cheetah Helicopter is a high-performance helicopter designed for operation over a very wide range of conditions.

The helicopter is versatile, multi-role, multi-purpose, highly manoeuvrable and rugged in construction. Last week, a MiG-21 Type 69 Trainer aircraft crashed in Barmer, Rajasthan killing both the pilots including a youngster Flight Lieutenant A Bal and Wing Commander Rana. IAF Cheetah Helicopter Makes Precautionary Landing Near UP’s Karchhana.

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"A twin-seater Mig-21 trainer aircraft of the IAF was airborne for a training sortie from Utarlai air base in Rajasthan this evening. Around 9:10 pm, the aircraft met with an accident near Barmer. Both pilots sustained fatal injuries," the IAF said in a tweet. The IAF also expressed deep regret at the loss of lives and said that a court of inquiry has been ordered to probe into the matter.

"The 51 Squadron based out of Srinagar air base is being number plated on September 30. After this, only three squadrons of the planes would be left in service and would be phased out by the year 2025," sources in the IAF told ANI.

Now every year, one squadron each of these planes would be number plated, they said. The 51 squadron is famous for thwarting Pakistan's aerial attack on India on February 27, 2019, and taking out an F-16 in an aircraft flown by Wing Commander (now Group Captain) Abhinandan Varthaman.

This is the only instance when a MiG-21 aircraft brought down an F-16 in air-to-air combat, the sources said. The IAF has been replacing the MiG-21 fighter jets with more capable aircraft like the Su-30 and the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

In the last 20 months, 6 MiG-21s have been lost in crashes in which five pilots have lost their lives. The MiG-21s were supposed to be retired a long time ago but delays in induction of the LCA Tejas aircraft have forced the IAF to continue flying these planes.

The IAF carries out extensive checks on these planes before flying and all safety aspects are taken care of before the pilot takes off, the officials said.

The number-plated squadron would be reactivated soon with a more capable aircraft in the near future, the officials said.

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