An Indian Navy MiG-29K fighter escaped a major mishap, when all five tyres burst after the pilot applied emergency brakes while landing at Dabolim runway on Monday at 3.15 pm.
Navy officials claimed the pilot was safe and did not make any effort to eject from the aircraft, after he assessed the situation and condition of the plane.
“During a routine sortie on Monday afternoon, the pilot encountered a technical snag in the hydraulic system of aircraft. While landing, he applied an emergency brake due to which the tyres burst,” said navy public relations officicer M C Joshi.
Fire tenders of the navy along with a towing machine immediately swung into action after the incident and the single seater MiG was cleared from the runway within 15 minutes after the incident.
“Whenever an emergency brake is applied, it is expected that tyres get burst and this is not a major incident,” said Joshi.
However, this is the first incident involving the MiG fighters after they were formally inducted on February 19 this year, in the presence of Defence Minister A K Antony and Russian delegates.
The Indian Navy had inducted first four Russian-made Mig 29K combat jets for deployment on the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov on February 19.
The combat jets had arrived in the country in a knocked down condition on December 4, 2009 and were assembled in the State.
Russian pilots were initially flying the planes, while Indian Navy pilots were sent to the US for deck landing and other training.
The jets were purchased by the Indian Navy as part of a $1.5 billion deal signed with Russia in January 2004 for Admiral Gorshkov.
Of this, $740 million was meant for the aircraft and the balance for refitting the carrier.
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