A Hawk trainer aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed on Tuesday at Kalaikunda in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district, a Defence official said.

Both the pilots ejected safely, the official said, adding that a court of inquiry was instituted to find out the cause of the accident.

The plane crashed in a civilian area near the Kalaikunda Air Force Station between 4 pm and 5 pm while returning from a training sortie.

The official said there was no loss of life or damage to civilian property in the accident.

The plane had taken off from Air Force Station Kalaikunda, which is mainly used as a training base.