Indian Tejas jet crashes at Dubai airshow, killing pilot

Where Diplomacy Meets News

Indian Tejas jet crashes at Dubai airshow, killing pilot

November 21, 2025

DUBAI,— An Indian Tejas fighter jet crashed in full view of spectators during an aerial demonstration at the Dubai Airshow on Friday, sending a burst of flames into the sky as emergency crews rushed to the scene.

The Indian Air Force said it would establish a formal court of inquiry to determine what led to the incident.

Video recorded by attendees showed a column of dark smoke rising behind a fenced section of the airstrip soon after the jet went down.

The Dubai government released an image showing firefighters directing hoses onto the smoking wreckage.

According to witness Jignesh Variya, 46, who attended the show with his family, the aircraft had been airborne for eight to nine minutes before the crash.

He told Reuters the pilot had completed two or three passes when the jet tipped into a steep nose-down angle. Though the aircraft straightened briefly, it continued to lose altitude until it struck the ground at about 2:15 p.m. local time, equal to 1015 GMT.

Variya said he saw three separate bursts of fire at the moment of impact. He described the crowd as shocked into silence before people stood and tried to understand what had happened.

Emergency vehicles began arriving within half a minute, he added, heading directly toward the crash site.

The accident took place on the closing day of the Dubai Airshow, which is considered the largest aviation event in the Middle East and opened on Monday.

Witnesses said flying displays resumed later in the afternoon, and several jets were again seen in the skies above the venue.

The Tejas is a single engine fighter identified as a 4.5 generation aircraft. It is manufactured by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and uses engines built by General Electric.

Friday’s crash is the second known loss of a Tejas, following an accident during an Indian exercise in 2024. The aircraft’s name means brilliance in Sanskrit and the jet is regarded as a core part of India’s plan to upgrade its fleet, which has long relied on Russian and former Soviet aircraft.

The Indian Air Force confirmed that the pilot flying the jet had died in the crash. In its statement, the service said the inquiry would evaluate all available evidence to determine the factors behind the accident.

The Indian embassy said it had contacted authorities in the UAE.

General Electric said it would support investigators as needed. Dubai officials reported that emergency teams remained on-site and continued handling the aftermath.

The Tejas program dates back to studies launched more than forty years ago. The aircraft was intended to replace India’s aging MiG-21 fleet with a lighter, domestically built combat jet.

Indian Tejas jet crashes at Dubai airshow, killing pilot, November 21, 2025. Photo: Dubai Diplomacy/video/X/

The first unit entered production in 2001. India’s air force plans to field nearly 220 Tejas fighters and upgraded Mk-1A variants over the next ten years, based on pending orders for HAL to complete.

Rollout schedules for the fighter have been affected by slower deliveries of General Electric engines. The company has previously pointed to supply chain delays connected to the period after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Francis Tusa, a defense analyst based in Britain, said the Tejas represents India’s first fully indigenous fighter that does not rely on foreign designs. He noted that export interest has been limited but said development work is underway for a Mark II version.

India had used the week-long Dubai Airshow to explore interest from potential foreign buyers. The event is a major gathering point for military and commercial aviation industries and is known for its wide airspace that allows for dramatic flying demonstrations.

Officials and analysts noted that incidents at the largest international airshows have become uncommon.

Friday’s crash was the first recorded at Dubai, recognized as the third-largest aviation exhibition after Paris and Farnborough. Airshow accidents are rare today but were more common in the 1970s before safety rules were tightened.

In 1999, a Sukhoi Su-30 crashed during a maneuver at the Paris Airshow, though the crew survived.

A MiG-29 also crashed there in the late 1980s. In Britain, aerobatic displays for the public were halted at the Farnborough Airshow in 2019 following a deadly crash of a vintage Hawker Hunter at a separate small airshow in 2015.

(With files from Reuters)