Pilot missing at sea off Goa coast

PANJIM: A pilot was reported missing and a co-pilot rescued on Thursday after they ejected from an Indian military jet before it crashed into the sea, a navy spokesman said.

The British-built Indian navy Sea Harrier trainer crashed near the capital of Goa.

The incident occurred at 8.50 am. When the aircraft was on its routine sortie, they said.

"We have sent out rescue vessels to look for the pilots. We have so far only managed to bring in one," defence ministry spokesman Abhay Lamlhate said from Panjim, capital of Goa.

The names of the pilots are Commander Vikram Menon and Lt Commander Saurabh Tiwary. While Menon has been rescued, search for Tiwary is on, a Naval spokesman said in New Delhi.

Naval ship and an aircraft has been pressed into service to locate the missing pilot.

The vertical takeoff jets, part of an order from Britain in the early 1980s, are mostly deployed on the country's sole aircraft carrier, the INS Viraat.

The Sea Harrier aircraft, which can be flown from an aircraft carrier or from land, cost about $23 million each.