Two Indian Air Force fighter jets crashed on Saturday in an apparent mid-air collision during exercises 300km south of the capital New Delhi.
The air force said two pilots aboard a Sukhoi Su-30 managed to eject safely but the pilot of a Mirage 2000 lost his life.
The accident happened during routine exercises over the central state of Madhya Pradesh. The aircraft crashed near the city of Gwalior.
“The two aircraft involved in the accident were on a routine operational flying training mission. One of the three pilots involved sustained fatal injuries,” the IAF tweeted.
“An inquiry has been ordered to determine the cause of the accident.”
The crash is the latest in a string of aviation accidents involving India's military air fleet.
Five army soldiers were killed last October when their helicopter crashed in Arunachal Pradesh state, near the country's militarised and disputed border with China.
It was the second military helicopter crash in the state that month, coming weeks after a Cheetah helicopter came down near the town of Tawang, killing its pilot.
Defence chief Gen Bipin Rawat was among 13 people killed when his Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter crashed while transporting him to an air force base in December 2021.
