Local broadcaster GOA 365 has published footage showing an Indian MiG-29K falling from the sky with one of its engines on fire. The jet crashed near a church in the village of Verna, Goa state. The jet's right engine malfunctioned soon after it took off from the INS HANSA naval air station at Dabolim for a training mission.
While the exact cause of the incident is still unclear, the preliminary version is that the jet suffered a bird strike, despite the plane having a certain degree of protection against alien objects entering the engine inlets.
The MiG Corporation, which produced the jet, has expressed readiness to help with the investigation of the incident, adding that it doesn't have any specific information on the matter except that both pilots successfully ejected and survived.
