On Tuesday morning at 8:40am local time, a Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), jettisoned its 1,200-litre external fuel tank over the farm. With the assistance of a satellite-aided Inertial Navigation System the pilot landed safely after the incident at Sulur Air Force base.  

The dropped fuel tank created a deep crater, and eyewitness footage from the scene shows that a small fire broke out. Thankfully no one was injured in the incident.

“We don’t know how it happened and if there was fuel in the drop tank. The flight has landed safely. Investigation is on,” an Air Force officer told NDTV. 

The air force and local police have secured the site while an investigation gets under way. 

The incident comes just one week after an Indian Navy Jaguar aircraft was forced to jettison fuel tanks and dummy munitions over a neighborhood in Haryana after a bird strike took out one of the plane’s engines. The pilot managed to land safely and there were no reports of injuries or damage in that incident either.

Last month, a navy fighter was also forced to jettison its fuel tanks, shutting down a local airport for a time.

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