Bhopal: A two-seater Mirage-2000 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Thursday crashed in an agriculture field in a village near district headquarters of Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh, officials said.Two pilots of the aircraft, which was on a routine training sortie, ejected safely, officials said.Both the pilots are safe, according to additional superintendent of police of Shivpuri district Sanjeev Mule.The incident occurred near the village of Bahareta Sani.The local villagers informed the police about the incident, he said.According to him, the aircraft had flown from the Gwalior airbase, around 100 km away, in a routine training sortie.An IAF team reached the spot in a chopper to launch a rescue operation and took the two pilots with them while returning to the Gwalior airbase in the helicopter.Meanwhile, in a post on X, the IAF said, “A Mirage 2000 aircraft of the IAF crashed near Shivpuri (Gwalior), during a routine training sortie today, after encountering a system malfunction. Both the pilots ejected safely. An inquiry has been ordered by the IAF, to ascertain the cause of the accident”.According to the police, the villagers informed them that the aircraft crashed in farmland and immediately caught fire.One of the two pilots was seen lying near the mishap site and reporting the matter on phone to his higher ups after ejecting, police quoting the villagers said.
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