ALBAWABA - On Friday, during an aerial performance at the Dubai Airshow, an Indian Tejas fighter jet crashed to the ground, killing its pilot and rocking the event on its last day.
The moment the aircraft quickly lost altitude before crashing into the ground and exploding into a fireball was captured in footage that went viral on social media, causing shocked bystanders to gasp. As ambulances and firefighting teams raced to the scene, thick columns of smoke rose over the crash site as they worked rapidly to contain the fire.
The pilot's death was confirmed by the Indian Air Force, which also offered its condolences and stated that a formal investigation has started to ascertain the cause of the fatal accident.
The multirole Tejas fighter went down while taking part in the official aerial displays that accompanied the airshow, according to a statement from Dubai's Government Media Office on X.
The aircraft made a low-altitude turn before crashing about 1.6 kilometers from the main display area, according to an eyewitness cited by Agence France-Presse. According to the witness, the pilot seemed to pull the aircraft upward in an attempt at a last-minute recovery, "but it was too late."
The incident on Friday is the second single-seat Tejas fighter crash in less than two years. In March of last year, a similar aircraft crashed during a training exercise in the Indian state of Rajasthan; however, no casualties were reported.
The Tejas, developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, is a single-engine fighter that first entered service with the Indian Air Force in 2016. India inked a $7 billion deal in September to replace its outdated fleet of Russian-built MiG-21s with 97 upgraded Tejas aircraft.
