Two Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel lost their lives on Wednesday after a Jaguar trainer aircraft crashed near Bhanoda village in Rajasthan’s Churu district.
The twin-seat combat aircraft was undertaking a standard training sortie when it went down in an agricultural field around 1:25 PM, confirmed Rajaldesar Station House Officer Kamlesh, speaking to news agency PTI.
In an official statement, the Air Force confirmed the tragic outcome: “An IAF Jaguar Trainer aircraft met with an accident during a routine training mission and crashed near Churu in Rajasthan, today. Both pilots sustained fatal injuries in the accident. No damage to any civil property has been reported.”
The IAF expressed its condolences, stating, “IAF deeply regrets the loss of lives and stands firmly with the bereaved families in this time of grief.” A court of inquiry has been set up to investigate the cause of the crash.
This incident marks the third Jaguar crash reported in 2025 alone.
Earlier, on April 2, a Jaguar aircraft involved in a night sortie from Gujarat’s Jamnagar base crashed soon after takeoff. A technical glitch occurred mid-air, prompting the pilots to eject in an attempt to divert the aircraft away from densely populated areas. While one pilot survived with injuries, Flight Lieutenant Siddharth Yadav succumbed to wounds sustained during ejection.
Just a month before that, in March, another Jaguar fighter crashed during a routine flight over Haryana’s Panchkula district. The pilot encountered a malfunction in the aircraft’s systems but managed to steer the jet away from civilian zones before ejecting to safety. At the time, the IAF had said, “The pilot manoeuvred the aircraft away from any habitation on the ground before ejecting safely. An inquiry has been ordered by the IAF to ascertain the cause of the accident.”
The frequency of such incidents is raising concerns, as the IAF continues to operate the British-French-built Jaguar aircraft, which entered Indian service in 1979 and are no longer in use by any other country.
In addition to the Jaguar crashes, 2025 has also seen other IAF aircraft mishaps. In February, a Mirage 2000 twin-seater crashed near Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, during training. Fortunately, both pilots ejected safely. A few months earlier, in November 2024, a MiG-29 fighter jet went down in a field near Agra, Uttar Pradesh, due to a technical snag, with the pilot surviving after a timely ejection.
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