- A MiG-21 Bison aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed in Rajasthan's Barmer, killing two pilots aboard the training version of the fighter aircraft.
- Presently the IAF has around 70 MiG-21 aircraft and 50 MiG-29 variants.
- The Indian Air Force currently has four squadrons of MiG-21 Bison aircraft in service, each squadron consisting of 16-18 aircraft, including two training versions.
- The plan is to retire all four MiG-21 squadrons by 2025.
- There have been 108 air crashes and damages in the last ten years, involving all armaments of the Indian Air Force, Navy, Army and Coast Guard.
- Of these, 21 accidents involved the MiG-21 Bison and its variants.
- The aircraft was nicknamed the 'Flying Coffin' due to the high rate of accidents.
Tags:
National
