Yet another Mig-21 fighter aircraft crashed near Kurseong, about 30 km from Siliguri, this afternoon, killing Squadron Leader Swapna Shankar Pandey.

Pandey tried to escape from the aircraft but his parachute failed to unfold, probably due to lack of height. His body was recovered from the jungles in the evening. Station Commander at Bagdogra airforce station Chandra Mowli said the pilot had taken off from the base station around 12.35 pm for a routine sortie. But the aircraft lost touch with the control tower after about 10 minutes.

Around 1.10 pm, the manager of Narbung tea estate in Kurseong informed police that he had seen an aircraft crashing into a nearby jungle. The plane was in flames soon afterward.

It was suspected that the Mig-21 might have hit a vulture which caused the fire. By the time, the pilot tried to escape, the aircraft had lost considerable height. A portion of the plane’s window was found stuck in a bamboo forest.

Authorities said this was the fifth accident in the past five years. The last Mig-21 crash in North Bengal was in Shamuktala near Hasimara air force base, on October 19, 2006.