Chennai: Fuel tank of an IAF Tejas fell in an agricultural field in Coimbatore’s outskirts on Tuesday, police said. The aircraft was doing a sortie when the incident occurred.
Defence sources in Chennai confirmed that a fuel tank from an IAF aircraft fell and said “all (was) safe”, indicating that there were no injuries.
“Today morning, around 0840h, one fuel drop tank fell off from a Tejas aircraft on a routine sortie from Sulur Air Base near Coimbatore,” an IAF spokesperson said to ANI.
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The aircraft landed back safely after the incident, he said, and added, “No damage was reported on ground.”
The locals were first shaken by a loud explosion. Upon investigation, they found that 1200-litre petrol tank fall from the sky.
The fuel tank drop caused a three-foot deep crater and a minor fire, the police added.
Officials of the Indian Air Force and the police are at the spot, they said.