Indian MiG-29 catches fire at Goa airport after leaving runway on takeoff

An Indian MiG-29K aircraft caught fire after leaving the runway while taking off at Goa’s Dabolim International Airport, a statement from the Indian Ministry of Defence said.

The trainee pilot safely ejected, the Wednesday, January 3 statement added.

#WATCH Fire on MiG-29K aircraft being extinguished at Goa airport, after the aircraft went off runway while taking off & caught fire pic.twitter.com/DAPAvHl6Iq

— ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2018

The aircraft was taking off from Naval Air Station Hansa, which shares a runway with the civilian Goa airport.

According to NDTV, the plane overshot the runway and is the first MiG-29 to be lost by the Indian Navy.

Breaking…@indiannavy MIG 29 crash in #goa , all safe.@awasthis @News18India @raydeep @AMISHDEVGAN @singhppratap @CNNnews18 pic.twitter.com/VCBqjv7myX

— Vivek Gupta News18 (@imvivekgupta) January 3, 2018

The airport was closed for around two hours and some flights delayed due to the incident, airport director BCH Negi said, india.com reported.

MiG-29 K fighter jet crashes in Goa – https://t.co/1EpkZ2GxQo pic.twitter.com/b9x2S6iAc2

— dailyworld(.)in (@DailyWorldChd) January 3, 2018