Indian Air Force says jet crashed in Assam on training mission

A Su-30MKI fighter jet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed on Thursday evening during a routine training mission in the northeastern state of Assam. The aircraft went down in the Karbi Anglong region, roughly 60 kilometers from Jorhat, the IAF said on X. The IAF confirmed that search operations are ongoing to locate the pilot and assess the situation. The jet failed to return or establish contact at the scheduled time following takeoff from Assam at 7:42 pm local time (1412 GMT). This incident comes just over a week after the IAF lost a Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Tejas light combat aircraft, which sustained significant damage after overshooting a runway at a frontline airbase. The crash also follows a November 2025 incident when another Tejas jet went down during a demonstration flight at the Dubai Air Show, highlighting a series of recent accidents involving India’s frontline fighter jets.