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.
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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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