A Su-30MKI fighter jet crashed in Assam's Karbi Anglong district during a training mission, killing Squadron Leader Anuj and Flight Lieutenant Purvesh Duragkar. The Indian Air Force confirmed the incident and expressed condolences to the bereaved families. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also mourned the loss of the two pilots.
The Indian Air Force announced on Friday that two pilots were killed in a Su-30MKI aircraft crash in Assam's Karbi Anglong district on Thursday. The jet had taken off from Jorhat Air Base for a routine training sortie and crashed in a remote hilly area near Inglong Ekopi, about 60 kilometres away. Radar contact was lost around 7:42 pm on Thursday, and local residents reported hearing a loud explosion and seeing smoke rising from the hills.
The IAF stated, "IAF acknowledges the loss of Sqn Ldr Anuj and Flt Lt Purvesh Duragkar, who sustained fatal injuries in the Su-30 crash. All personnel of the IAF express sincere condolences, and stand firmly with the bereaved family in this time of grief."
Flight Lieutenant Purvesh Duragkar, a 27-year-old from Nagpur, was a 2015 pass-out from South Public School. Principal Mrunal Dasture said, "He was still connected with the school and used to inform us about his professional developments." Duragkar was commissioned on December 7, 2022, and it was his first posting in Jorhat. His father, Ravindra Duragkar, is a transport inspector with Central Railway, and his mother, Sandhya Duragkar, is a homemaker.
The Su-30MKI is a two-seater multirole long-range fighter jet developed by Russian manufacturer Sukhoi and now built under licence by HAL for the IAF. The force operates a fleet of over 260 such jets. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described the incident as a moment of “immense grief and loss.”
Previous incidents include a Sukhoi crash in Maharashtra's Nashik district in June 2024 and another in January 2023 after takeoff from Gwalior airbase.
