MiG-27 crashes; pilot and co-pilot safe

SILIGURI: A MiG-27 fighter aircraft crashed near Alipurduar in West Bengal on Monday minutes after its take-off from Hasimara airbase in North Bengal, but the pilot and the co-pilot ejected safely.
     
Additional superintendent of police, Alipurduar, Sabyasachi Mishra said the aircraft crashed at Nararthali area in Alipurduar at 12.30 pm with the debris hitting a 'kutcha' house setting it on fire.
     
The occupants of the house were working in the fields at the time.
     
The debris of the fighter jet was scattered over a radius of 2 km.
     
A search was being made for the aircraft's black box, Mishra said.
     
This is the third MiG that has crashed in the Dooars region of North Bengal this year.