‘MiG pilots steered jet away from village’

The two pilots of the ill-fated Mig-21 trainer aircraft, which crashed in Barmer on Thursday night, displayed exemplary presence of mind by steering the plane away from a village by two to three kms before it crashed into a sand dune, according to reports.

The two pilots were identified as Wing Commander M Rana and Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal, the IAF said on Friday. Rana hailed from Himachal Pradesh and Bal from Jammu. The two pilots were killed when their twin-seater MiG-21 aircraft crashed during a training sortie.

Reports suggest the two pilots saved scores of civilians of Bhimda village by diverting the aircraft from the populated area.