Article Posted on : - Jul 01, 2011

MiG-29KUB. A file photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): Russia has informed India that the crash of a MiG 29K fighter aircraft, which was manufactured for the Indian Navy, was due to pilot error and there was no need for it to ground the fighter aircraft.

India had sought clarifications from Russia after a MiG-29KUB twin-seater fighter, which was part of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal, crashed in south Russian Astrakhan region killing its two-member crew.

"The Russians have told us that the crashed aircraft went through an extreme manoeuvre due to pilot error which resulted in the accident and there was no need for us to ground our aircraft," a senior Naval officer told PTI here.

He said the aircraft was coming back to its base after carrying out weapon trials when the crash took place.

India had placed orders for 16 MiG 29Ks from Russia under a deal worth over USD 900 million in 2004 and some of these aircraft have already been inducted into service at Goa.

India had said if there was a technical reason behind the crash, it would also consider grounding its fleet of the aircraft.

The Russian Defence Ministry had grounded the entire MiG-29K fleet on June 23 after the incident.

India is the only customer of the Russian-built MiG-29K, 45 of which will be inducted into service in next few years at Navy's INS Hansa air base and will be operated from the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier.