The pilots of an Indian Air Force Jaguar fighter jet managed to eject to safety before their plane crashed during a routine flight near the city of Allahabad in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday morning, sources said.
A court of inquiry has been tasked by the Indian Air Force with launching a probe into the incident.
The Jaguar is a twin-engine, ground attack aircraft which was designed and developed jointly by Breguet of France (now part of Dassault) and the UK-based British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) in the 1960's; India started using the planes in 1979. Over the long term, India is slated to replace its Jaguar fleet with the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), which is currently under development.