An Indian Air Force Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft that went missing shortly after taking off from Assam’s Jorhat on Thursday evening has crashed in the Karbi Anglong area, the IAF confirmed. The aircraft was on a training mission and reportedly went down about 60 kilometres away from Jorhat.

The fate of the two pilots who were on board the aircraft is still unknown. Search and rescue operations have been launched to locate both the aircraft and the pilots.

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Earlier, the Sukhoi-30 MKI had lost radar contact soon after taking off from the airbase in Jorhat, triggering an immediate search operation by the Indian Air Force.

According to defence officials, the aircraft was last in contact with ground control at around 7.42 pm before it went off radar. “The aircraft had two pilots on board, and there has been no contact with them so far. Search operations have been launched to locate both the aircraft and the pilots,” an IAF official, requesting anonymity, said.

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Explosion sound reported near the crash site

Meanwhile, reports from the Karbi Anglong district said that a loud explosion-like sound was heard from a remote hill area near Nilip block at around 7 pm. Some unverified pictures of the alleged crash site have also been circulating on social media.

The Sukhoi-30 MKI is one of the main fighter aircraft used by the Indian Air Force. At present, the IAF operates a fleet of more than 260 Su-30MKI jets.

This is not the first such incident involving the aircraft. In June 2024, a Sukhoi fighter jet crashed in the Nashik district of Maharashtra. Earlier, another Sukhoi-30 jet had crashed in January 2023 after taking off from the Gwalior airbase.