Kangra, July 18:  A MiG-21 fighter jet aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF), coming from Punjab's Pathankot, crashed in Patta Jattiyan on Wednesday afternoon around 1.30 pm. The pilot of the aircraft died in the crash and his body was recovered later. According to a tweet by ANI, the incident took place in Jawali subdivision of Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district when the aircraft was on a routine training flight. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered into the crash.

"The MiG-21 took off from Punjab's Pathankot & later lost contact with its system. Police present on the spot. Fire has been doused but debris are scattered everywhere," said Kangra SP Santosh Patial.

The pilot was earlier reported to be missing, following which a search operation was launched. The search team recovered the body of the pilot later. A statement by the IAF said, "A MiG-21 aircraft, which was on a routine sortie crashed at 1321 hours in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. The aircraft had got airborne from Air Force Station Pathankot at 1220 hours. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to establish the cause of the accident."

WATCH VIDEO: MIG 21 crashes in Kangra

The crash comes less than two months after a MiG-21 had crashed in Jammu and Kashmir, killing the pilot. The MiG-21, inducted into the IAF in 1963, was dubbed as a "flying coffin" after a spate of crashes killing several pilots.

Crashes Earlier This Year

Earlier in June, a Sukhoi aircraft awaiting induction in the Indian Air Force crashed near Nashik. Reports informed that both the pilots ejected safely before the plane, which was on a routine sortie, hit the ground near a grape farm.

According to a PTI report, the under-production Sukhoi Su-30MKI twinjet multirole air superiority fighter of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) crashed around 25 km from Nashik, shortly after taking off from the HAL airstrip near the city.

A similar incident was reported from Gujarat where an IAF fighter jet crashed in Mundra district of Kutch in June.  According to a report by TOI, the IAF Jaguar belonging to the Jamnagar air base crashed on the outskirts of Beraja village. A defence spokesperson further informed that the pilot, Air Commodore Sanjay Chauhan lost his life in the crash.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2018 01:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).