IAF trainer aircraft crashes into lake on city’s outskirts, pilot injured

CHENNAI: An Indian Air Force trainer jet crashed into a lake at Iyyancherry in Urapakkam, 30km south of Chennai, at 10.30am on Tuesday. One of the two airmen in the Kiran HJT-16 aircraft was injured in the incident.
There were no casualties on the ground as the pilots had guided the jet towards the lake before ejecting to safety, air force officials said.
The officials said Wing Commander C G Deepak suffered severe injuries to the legs when his parachute got caught in a tree.He was taken to hospital and the doctors said his condition was stable.
His co-pilot, Squadron Leader K P Singh, landed safely in the Narmada Nagar area despite brushing against an electric wire.
Singh and Deepak radioed the air force station and sounded an emergency shortly before the crash, IAF officials said.
The commander of the Tambaram Air Force Station, from where the aircraft took off, Srikumar Prabhakar, was not available for comment. IAF officials said the reason for the crash would be known only after a court of inquiry looked into the incident.
Eyewitnesses said the aircraft appeared to be wobbling as it came down.
Deepak was injured when he fell on a compound wall in the backyard of a house in the area after his parachute got caught in a mango tree.
Software engineer Ravi Prakash, in whose house Deepak landed, said he gave the pilot water to drink. “He was injured from the waist down. He could not stand up,” he said.