"Preliminary investigation revealed that there was some possible failure of the engine," Krishnaswamy told reporters in the southern city of Coimbatore, Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said.

Monday's crash in Haryana state was the second MiG crash in four days and the eighth in the two adjoining states of Punjab and Haryana in the past year, killing a total of 21 civilians and a pilot, officials said.

The Indian Airforce, the world's fourth largest, has been plagued by mishaps involving its ageing fleet of Russian-made MiGs.

Official figures show at least 221 MiGs, worth tens of millions of dollars, were lost in crashes between 1991 and 2000, killing about 100 pilots.

A meeting chaired by Defence Minister George Fernandes in November decided to phase out the ageing MiG-21 fleet.

SPACE.WIRE