*NEW DELHI – *The Indian Air Force may press charges against officers foundguilty of lapses that led to the downing of an Mi-17 helicopter on February27, apparently by friendly fire.
Six IAF personnel and a civilian were killed when the helicopterdisintegrated and crashed in Budgam on the day that Indian and Pakistanijets squared off along the Line of Control following the IAF airstrike onBalakot, Pakistan.
The chopper is believed to have been taken down by an Israeli-origin airdefence system fired in error on the Indian side, The Wire has reported.
Though the court of inquiry (CoI) has yet to submit its final report, thefindings reveal several lapses which led to the catastrophe.
An earlier report by defence analyst Ajai Shuklalinksaidthat the CoI had “conclusively determined” that the Mi-17 V5 helicopter wasbrought down by friendly fire. Shukla said the IAF has been asked to “hold”the findings until after elections.
On Tuesday, two days after the final phase of voting, two nationalnewspapers reported that the IAF is considering charging officers withculpable homicide not amounting to murder.
According to the *Hindustan Times*link,the senior-most officer of the Srinagar air force base has been removed forrelated reasons. The Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Srinagar Air Base wasremoved as the incident occurred on his watch.
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Other lapses, the *HT* report says, include air traffic control asking thechopper to return to base while Indian and Pakistani jets were engaged.“Ideally, the helicopter should have been sent away to a safer zone insteadof being called back to the base,” a senior defence ministry official toldthe paper.
The officer who was Terminal Weapons Director (TWD) is also under scrutiny,an *Economic Times* reportlinksaid,as the person who cleared the missile’s launch. The CoI is determiningwhether the TWD was present at the control room when the command to firethe missile was issued, or if he relayed it over a hand-held transmitter.
The report adds that the helicopter was not marked a “red target” by theIAF’s Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) at Barnala, Punjab.The IACCS monitors incoming aircraft from Pakistan. “A Spyder [air defencesystem] unit reported a lock-on and the order to fire was issued, possiblyunder the impression that the target was an incoming unmanned aerialvehicle,” an unidentified officer told *ET*.
Both newspapers reported that the proceedings could take months, even ayear, to complete because the investigating team needs to meticulouslycollect data and evidence, in view of the serious charges that could beinitiated against culpable officers.
