The crash is the second recorded for the HAL Tejas, a key jet in India’s efforts to modernise its air force fleet.
An Indian-made fighter jet has gone down in flames at the Dubai Airshow, killing the pilot in the second known crash of the aircraft.
The HAL Tejas, a combat aircraft, crashed just after 2pm local time (10:00 GMT) on Friday during a demonstration for a crowd of spectators at Dubai World Central, where the last day of the airshow was under way.
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The Indian Air Force (IAF) confirmed on social media that the pilot sustained “fatal injuries” and said it was launching an inquiry to determine what caused the crash.
“IAF deeply regrets the loss of life and stands firmly with the bereaved family in this time of grief,” the statement added.
Photos published by Indian media outlets showed the plane engulfed in flames and a wall of black smoke. A witness told Reuters news agency that the plane was flying at low altitude before appearing to rapidly descend in a ball of fire.
The crash sent sirens reverberating across Al Maktoum International Airport, where the biennial aviation event was expected to draw about 150,000 people this year. It was not immediately clear if anyone else was injured.
The Government of Dubai Media Office wrote on X that the pilot’s death was “tragic” and posted a photo of crews appearing to hose down debris at the site of the crash.
“Firefighting and emergency teams responded rapidly to the incident and are currently managing the situation on-site,” the office said.
Air demonstrations resumed less than two hours later as emergency workers finished clearing the scene.
The Tejas jet, built by India’s state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, has been a key symbol of New Delhi’s attempt to modernise its air force fleet, especially as China helps neighbouring Pakistan shore up its own air capabilities.
The crash and death in Dubai are another blow to the Indian Air Force.
In May, India and Pakistan engaged in their heaviest fighting in decades – involving fighter jets and cruise missiles – after armed men killed more than two dozen tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir’s town of Pahalgam in April. New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the attack, which the latter vehemently denied.
Pakistan claimed to have downed at least five Indian jets during the conflict, which India initially brushed off as “disinformation”. But a top Indian general admitted in June that Indian forces had indeed lost an unspecified number of jets.
United States President Donald Trump also asserted in July that “five, four or five, but I think five jets” were shot down, without providing more detail.
By November, an annual report to US Congress by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said that the conflict “showcased Chinese weaponry”, though it referred to the loss of just three jets flown by the Indian military.
China provided more than 80 percent of Pakistan’s arms imports from 2019 to 2023, the report added.
Last March, an Indian Tejas jet crashed in the state of Rajasthan, Indian outlet NDTV reported, the first such incident recorded since the jet’s first test flight in 2001. The pilot survived.
