Guwahati (Gurpreet Singh)— A Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) lost radar contact and went missing while flying over the Karbi Anglong district of Assam on Thursday evening, March 5, 2026. The advanced twin-engine fighter jet had took off from the Jorhat air base for a routine sortie but failed to maintain communication, sparking an immediate large-scale search and rescue operation in the rugged terrain of Northeast India.
According to a statement released by Defence PRO Lt. Col. Mahender Rawat, the aircraft was last in contact with ground control at 7:42 PM. “An IAF Su-30 MKI is reported overdue. Search and rescue operations have been initiated to ascertain the status of the fighter jet,” the PRO stated. As of late Thursday night, there has been no official update regarding the safety or whereabouts of the pilot.
The search efforts are currently focused on the Bokajan sub-division of Karbi Anglong. Local residents in the Chokihola area have reported hearing a loud explosion and claimed that a plane may have crashed deep within a densely forested and hilly tract. Local administrative officials have mobilised teams to verify these claims, though the challenging geography and nighttime conditions have hampered the initial progress. “We are preparing a team to send and verify the reports from locals. We cannot confirm a crash at this moment,” a senior official added.
The Su-30 MKI is the backbone of the IAF’s fighter fleet, and the Jorhat air base serves as a critical strategic hub for operations in the eastern sector. This incident comes at a time of heightened regional security concerns, and the IAF is expected to constitute a Court of Inquiry to investigate the technical or environmental factors that may have led to the loss of contact.
