New Delhi :The two Indian Air Force pilots killed in Thursday night's crash of a MiG-21 trainer aircraft in Rajasthan are Wing Commander M Rana and Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal.
Wing Commander Rana hailed from Himachal Pradesh and Flight Lieutenant Bal from Jammu, an IAF official said while releasing the names to the media on Friday. The two pilots were killed when their twin-seater MiG-21 aircraft crashed during a training sortie near Barmer in the desert state.
The IAF said the aircraft was on a sortie from the Utarlai air base and the accident occurred around 9.10 pm. Air headquarters has already ordered a court of inquiry to ascertain the cause of the accident. MiG-21s were the mainstay of the IAF for a long time. However, the aircraft has had a very poor safety record of late.