It was a brilliant manoeuvre when the Indian Air Force landed a Mirage 2000 fighter jet on the Yamuna Expressway near the national capital. The event was plastered across TV screens and trended on Twitter.
But this isn’t the first time that a fighter jet has been landed on a public highway. The Taiwanese did it, with the same aircraft no less, in 2011 and 2014.
Taiwan, near China, has been preparing for a potential war with its neighbour China for years now. The country’s military has made several fighter jet landings on highways for several years now.
The reason? The Taiwan Air Force would still be operational if China destroyed their air bases. Taiwan is a small island so it makes sense for them to conduct such an exercise.
Britain has done it too, but with a Jaguar fighter jet.
So now the Yamuna Expressway too has made it to the history books, even if it isn’t as famous as Pokhran. And the pilot of that Mirage 2000 is one lucky guy. He broke the speed limit on the Yamuna Expressway many times over, but still didn’t get a speeding ticket.
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