STORY: An Indian home-produced Tejas fighter jet crashed at the Dubai Air Show during an aerial display on Friday (November 21), killing its pilot, the Indian Air Force said.

An eyewitness video showed the aircraft losing altitude mid-flight and rapidly descending before a huge fireball and thick black smoke rose from behind a fenced airstrip as a shocked crowd watched.

The location of the video was confirmed from the road layout and the trees line which matched with file and satellite imagery of the airport. The date when the video was filmed were confirmed by the original file metadata.

"A court of inquiry is being constituted, to ascertain the cause of the accident," the IAF said in a statement.

Dubai's government shared a photograph of firefighting teams dousing a smoldering wreckage. It said emergency teams were managing the situation on-site.

This is the second known crash of the fighter jet, which is powered by General Electric engines and is crucial for India's efforts to modernise its air force fleet of mainly Russian and ex-Soviet fighters. The first crash was during an exercise in India in 2024.

The crash happened during the last day of the air show, the Middle East's largest aviation event, which started on Monday.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

An eyewitness video showed the moments of Indian fighter jet Tejas crashed and burst into flames on Friday (November 21) during an aerial display at Dubai Air Show. Video credit: Jignesh Variya.

VIDEO SHOWS: INDIAN HOME-PRODUCED TEJAS FIGHTER JET LOSING ALTITUDE AND CRASHING DURING AIR SHOW / FLAMES AND SMOKE RISING FROM CRASH SITE

Verified by:

-Location confirmed by the road layout and trees that matched file and satellite images of the area

-Date verified by original files metadata

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (NOVEMBER 21, 2025) (ORIGINALLY SHOT IN PORTRAIT) (JIGNESH VARIYA - Must on-screen courtesy Jignesh Variya) (SHOT IN PORTRAIT)

1. INDIAN FIGHTER JET TEJAS LOSING ALTITUDE DURING AN AERIAL DISPLAY

2. FLAMES AND THICK SMOKE RISING FROM THE CRASH SITE