Panaji, Aug 21 - An Indian Navy Sea Harrier combat jet crashed off the Goa coast Friday morning, killing its pilot Lt. Cdr. Saurav Saxena, officials said.

The twin-engine jet, which took off from the Dabolim airport here around 10 a.m., ditched into the sea at 11.57 a.m. while on an exercise with an Indian Navy ship 15 km off the Goa coast, Captain Surinder Ahuja, commander of INS Hansa, one of the three naval bases in Goa, told reporters here.

'We have recovered the pilot's body. The exact scene of accident has also been identified because of the visible wreckage. The process of salvaging the aircraft will begin soon,' Ahuja said, adding that a board of enquiry had been appointed to probe the reasons for the crash.

'It was a seven to eight year old fighter plane. It was in good condition and Saxena was one of our ace pilots,' Ahuja said.

Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, who happened to be in Goa when the accident occurred, said that while every crash was a matter of concern, 'in the business that we are in, we do go through these unfortunate incidents'.