Chennai IAF pilot, colleague killed in Assam crash

The aircraft crashed in the river island around noon, soon after taking off from the Jorhat air base, they said. The pilots killed in the crash were Wing Commander Jai Paul James and Wing Commander D Vats. James (47) hailed from Chennai and his family lives in East Tambaram. His father Jai Paul also served in the Indian Air Force. James is survived by his wife Grace, son Roshan and daughter Reshmi. The funeral has been scheduled to be held in Bengaluru. 

The pilots had attempted an emergency landing but the aircraft crashed in a sand bar in the northern part of the district and went up in flames, Tezpur-based defence spokesperson Lt. Col. Harshvardhan Pande said.