Digital Desk: At his final rites on Saturday in Jammu, thousands of people, including IAF members, paid their tributes to pilot lieutenant Advitiya Bal, who was killed in a MiG-21 trainer aircraft crash in Rajasthan's Barmer. This afternoon, the mortal remains of Bal were carried home. In the crash on Thursday, Bal and wing commander M Rana perished.
Wing
commander Mohit Rana was from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district, while Bal, 26,
was from Jinder Mehlu village, which is close to the India-Pakistan border in
the RS Pura sector of Jammu district.
On
Friday, Bal's family arrived in Rajasthan to receive his body.
Rajnath
Singh, the defence minister, had been urged by Bal's family to quickly halt the
Soviet-era fighter aircraft. "Given that the MiG 21 fighter jets have
already claimed so many lives, we implore the defence minister to immediately
stop employing them. Please ground them right away to prevent another crash
that costs more lives, urged Bal's uncle Kamaljeet Bal.
During
a training mission near Barmer, the two pilots' twin-seater MiG-21 aircraft
crashed, killing them. The incident happened at around 9:10 p.m., when the
plane was departing from Utarlai air base, according to the IAF.
The
IAF also expressed its great sorrow for the lives lost and announced that a
court of inquiry has been appointed to look into the situation.
A court of inquiry has been appointed to determine the accident's
cause, and the IAF expressed its "sad grief for the loss of lives"
and its "steadfast solidarity with the bereaved families" in the
statement.
Rajnath Singh previously discussed the fighter jet crash in Barmer
with the head of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari. He
received a thorough briefing on the situation from the air chief.
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