The Indian Navy on Monday recovered the body of missing MiG-29k pilot Commander Nishant Singh 11 days after he went missing off the coast of Goa.
Navy officials said that Singh’s body was found 30 miles off the coast of Goa on the sea bed 70 metres below water after an extensive search operation. As per protocol, his family has been informed and DNA tests are underway to confirm the identity of the corpse.
A statement from the Indian Navy today said: “Mortal remains of a human body have been recovered in the vicinity of the wreckage site. The samples are being sent for DNA testing for confirmation of identity.”
All sections of the aircraft wreckage, including ejection seats, have been accounted for using side scan sonar and HD cameras, the statement said.
Commander Singh had been missing since November 26 after his MiG-29K jet had crashed while operating over the Arabian Sea. The Russian-origin jet had taken off from aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and went down at around 5 pm on November 26.
One pilot of the aircraft had been rescued while a search operation was launched for Commander Nishant Singh, Indian Navy officials had said.
Four days after the incident, on December 1, Navy specialists located the primary wreckage of the Russian-built twin-seat fighter. Sources had said Commander Singh’s ejection seat was not present at the site.
The MiG-29K is an all-weather carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft developed by Russian aerospace company Mikoyan (MiG). The Indian Navy had procured a fleet of 45 MiG-29Ks from Russia over a decade back at a cost of around USD 2 billion to operate from INS Vikramaditya. INS Vikramaditya was part of the second phase of the Malabar exercise involving navies of India, the US, Australia and Japan.
The MIG-29K fleet on board the aircraft carrier was also involved in the mega naval drill that took place from November 17 to 20.
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