NEW DELHI: A MIG-21 fighter crashed on Thursday in Upper Assam but the pilot managed to bail out.

It was the sixth IAF aircraft crashed this year and the second MIG -21 within a month.

The type-77 aircraft took off from Chabua airbase around 1400 hrs in Upper Assam, but it crashed immediately just outside the airbase into paddy fields, media reports quoting IAF sources said.

Before the crash, the pilot reported the technical error to the airbase.

Earlier, the IAF had lost a Kiran MK-II trainer aircraft of its Surya Kiran aerobatics team on January 21, a Sukhoi on April 30, a MiG-27 on May 15, a MiG-21 Byson on May 27, and an AN-32 on June 9.