No need to ground MiG 29K fighter jet: Russia

India had sought clarifications from Russia after a MiG-29KUB twin-seater fighter, which was part of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal, crashed in south Russian Astrakhan region on Wednesday killing its two-member crew.

"The Russians have told us that the crashed aircraft went through an extreme manoeuvre due to pilot error which resulted in the accident and there was no need for us to ground our aircraft," a senior Naval officer said.
 

India had placed orders for 16 MiG 29Ks from Russia under a deal worth over USD 900 million in 2004 and some of these planes have already been inducted into service at Goa.

India had said if there was a technical reason behind the crash, it would also consider grounding its fleet of the aircraft.

The Russian Defence Ministry had grounded the entire MiG-29K fleet on June 23 after the incident.