NEW DELHI: Two Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots were killed on Wednesday when a Jaguar fighter jet crashed near Bhanuda village in Rajasthan’s Churu district, Indian media reported.
The aircraft had taken off from the Suratgarh airbase and went down around 1:25 pm local time, India’s ANI news agency reported.
According to Rajaldesar Station House Officer Kamlesh, cited by Indian media, the twin-seater aircraft crashed in an agricultural field, causing no damage to civilian properties.
The IAF confirmed the fatalities and said an inquiry had been ordered to ascertain the cause of the crash.
“The Indian Air Force deeply regrets the loss of lives and stands firmly with the bereaved families in this time of grief,” the IAF said in a statement.
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.
IAF deeply regrets the loss of lives and…
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) July 9, 2025
Defence sources told ANI that IAF helicopters were immediately dispatched to the crash site to assist with rescue and investigation operations. The identities of the two deceased pilots have not yet been officially released.
This marks the third Jaguar fighter jet crash in India this year. On March 7, a Jaguar aircraft crashed near Panchkula in Haryana, with the pilot managing to eject safely.
A second crash occurred on April 2 near the Jamnagar Airfield in Gujarat during a night training mission.
One pilot, Siddharth Yadav, succumbed to injuries sustained during ejection, while the other pilot survived with injuries.
The Jaguar, a twin-engine fighter bomber inducted into the IAF in the late 1970s, has undergone multiple upgrades over the years. Despite its extended service life, the increasing frequency of crashes has raised concerns over its continued operational deployment.
Air India aircraft crash
Meanwhile, Indian aviation authorities are preparing to release a preliminary report by Friday on the deadly crash of Air India Flight AI-171 last month, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, bound for London, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on 12 June, killing 241 of the 242 people onboard, along with others on the ground.
The investigation, led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), has narrowed its focus to the movement of the aircraft’s engine fuel control switches.
Analysis of the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, along with Boeing’s flight simulation, suggests an apparent loss of thrust moments before the crash.
Aviation publication The Air Current first reported that investigators are examining whether improper, inadvertent, or intentional actions related to the fuel switches might have contributed to the crash. However, one source noted that there was no evidence so far of mechanical failure, and no advisories have been issued to 787 operators globally.
Speaking to Reuters, US aviation safety expert John Cox said accidental movement of the fuel switches was unlikely.
“You can’t bump them and they move,” Cox said, adding that shutting off a switch would cause an immediate loss of engine power.
The AAIB confirmed that the Crash Protection Module from the front black box had been retrieved and its data successfully downloaded at the bureau’s laboratory in Delhi on June 25.
