Article Posted on : - Sep 17, 2009

NEW DELHI (PTI): The IAF has blamed a "technical malfunction" of the weapon system for its Mirage-2000 fighter jet dropping a bomb 15 km outside the Pokhran firing ranges in Rajasthan on Monday night.

"The court of inquiry into the technical malfunction of the weapon system on-board the aircraft has already begun," an IAF officer said here, Wednesday.

The IAF also stated that the 100-pound bomb had exploded, but did not damage any civilian or government property.

"The spot where the bomb fell and exploded was uninhabited and there certainly was no damage to the Indira Gandhi Canal," the officer said.

The Mirage-2000 from a squadron from Gwalior air base was flying over Pokhran firing ranges during a routine weapons training sortie when the bomb was jettisoned due to a technical fault in the system.

The bomb fell about 12 km away from Mohangarh town on the fringes of the Pokhran firing range and about 100 feet away from the Indira Gandhi canal.

The fighter jet pilot was to hit a target in the firing range about 25 km from the spot where the bomb actually fell and exploded.