The labourers were shocked to see the tank falling from the sky which caused a a three-foot deep crater and a minor fire.
Defence sources in Chennai confirmed that a fuel tank from Tejas aircraft fell and said all were safe, indicating that there were no injuries. (Photo: Twitter | @living4hind)
An Indian Air Force (IAF) jet dropped a 1,200-litre fuel tank over empty farm land near Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore while flying a routine “sortie” on Tuesday.
The fuel tank of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft of the IAF fell onto an agricultural field near Sulur air base during the flight.
Defence sources in Chennai confirmed that a fuel tank from Tejas aircraft fell and said “all (was) safe”, indicating that there were no injuries.
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The labourers were shocked to see the tank falling from the sky which caused a a three-foot deep crater and a minor fire.
Breaking: External Fuel tank of the LCA Tejas aircraft of the Indian Air Force fell down in farm near Sulur air base in Tamil Nadu during a flight today. First such incident involving a #Tejas@VinodDX9 @Aryanwarlord @I30mki @vgmenon99
pic.twitter.com/4XGqozO1GL— Saptak Mondal (@saptak__mondal) July 2, 2019
However, the combat jet landed safely in the nearby Sulur Air Force station.
The IAF has ordered an investigation into the incident.
Earlier last month, a fuel tank of MiG 29K aircraft got detached while taking off and fell on the runway of Goa’s Dabolim International Airport, spilling fuel and sparking a fire.
While a few civil and commercial flights were diverted and some departures slightly delayed, emergency services were immediately pressed in to quickly re-operationalise the runway.
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