New Delhi: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesdaysaid that a Court of Inquiry (CoI) has been ordered to ascertain the reasonsbehind the crash of MiG 21 trainer aircraft near Gwalior on Wednesday. TheDefence Minister also called on the Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa toenquire about the condition of the two pilots onboard the ill-fated aircraftwho managed to eject successfully from the cockpit.

An Indian Air Force (IAF) also confirmed that a court ofinquiry (CoI) has been instituted to ascertain the reason behind the crash.

"Both pilots, a Squadron Leader and a Group Captain,ejected safely and were picked up by a rescue helicopter. The aircraft was aType-69 twin-seated trainer aircraft," the IAF said in a statement.

The MiG-21 Type 69 trainer aircraft had taken off from theMaharajpur Air Force Station in Gwalior and crashed at around 10 AM. Thecrashed MiG-21 was a part of the IAF Tactics and Air Combat DevelopmentEstablishment (TACDE) school, also known as the Top Gun school of the force.

Almost three weeks ago on September 2, the Indian Air Force(IAF) Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa along with Wing Commander AbhinandanVarthaman had flown another MiG-21 Type 69 trainer in Pathankot, Punjab. Thissortie was the last one by ACM Dhanoa before his retirement on September 30,2019.

The force has lost at least 10 aircraft in 2019 tillSeptember 25. While an IAF Jaguar had crashed on January 28, just a few dayslater on  February 1, a Mirage 2000 camedown in Bengaluru in which both the pilots lost their lives and on February 12a MiG-27 crashed in Pokhran.