Gwalior: A Mirage-2000 trainer aircraft today (Oct 12, 2004) crashed near Gwalior while taking part in a joint exercise with Singapore Air Force, but the two pilots ejected safely.

The mishap occurred between 11:30 hours and 11:40 hours when the fighter was returning to Gwalior Air Base on detection of some technical problem soon after take-off, an IAF (Indian Air Force) spokesman told reporters.

While the pilots found that the aircraft would not be able to make it to the airfield they decided to eject, he said, adding subsequently the plane crashed four nautical miles short of the base.

The two pilots were safe and nobody was injured on the ground also.

Earlier, Additional District Magistrate R K Jain said that preliminary information showed that the wheel of the Mirage fell off immediately after it took off from Maharajpur Air Force base.

The spokesman said the joint exercise 'Ankush' was unaffected by the mishap.

A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the crash.