Press Trust of India
Balasore: A pilotless target aircraft (PTA) called ‘Lakshya’ crashed in a paddy field in Baliapal block of Balasore district Friday.
There was no casualty or damage to property, superintendent of police Niti Sekhar said.
“It was a routine trial and part of training exercises. It was inert. No issue of concern,” a senior Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) official at Chandipur near here said.
A team from the Kalaikunda airbase in neighbouring West Bengal would come to the accident site to collect the debris and investigate the incident, the DRDO official said.
The pilotless aircraft crash-landed with a huge explosion on the farmland of Bhaskar Jena at Chandamani village in Aladiha panchayat. A large number of people rushed to the spot to know about what caused the crash.
A team of DRDO started an investigation to the causes of its crash-landing. Local police also started an investigation into the incident.
Policemen cordoned off the site in Chandmani village as per instructions from senior officers, Baliapal police station inspector-in-charge Surendra Beuria said. PTA ‘Lakshya’ is a reusable aerial target system, according to DRDO officials.
It is operated with the help of a remote from the ground to provide aerial target for training of pilots of all the three services, the DRDO officials said. The PTAs entered service in November 2000 at the Interim Test Range (ITR) of Chandipur. ‘Lakshya’ was operational with the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy by April 2002.
It is powered by a single PTAE-7 turbojet engine designed and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in Bangalore. PNN
