NEW DELHI – IAF inquiry report reveals worst humiliation for Indian AirForce on February 27 incident.
After facing a humiliating defeat in aerial engagement with Pakistanearlier this year, the Indian air force has suffered another embarrassmentas a high-level probe Friday held five personnel of the force responsiblefor a deadly helicopter crash in the occupied region of Jammu and Kashmir.
After nearly six months of investigation, the IAF’s Court of Inquiry alsoheld five personnel, including the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of theSrinagar base, responsible for the crash, local media reports said.
Six IAF personnel on board the chopper and a civilian on the ground werekilled after the Mi-17 V-5 helicopter after being hit by a surface-to-airmissile in Budgam on February 27, the day Indian and Pakistani air forceswere engaged in a dogfight. The same day, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) alsoshot down two Indian jets – MiG21 Bison and Su-30 – claiming superiority inthe skies.
“The guilty personnel will face severe punishment as per provisions of themilitary law,” the Indian Express quoted a source as saying. This couldinclude charging the guilty with culpable homicide not amounting to murder,it added.
The probe under an Air Commodore-ranked officer found that the‘Identification of Friend or Foe’ (IFF) system on-board the helicopter wasswitched off and there were “vital gaps” in communication and coordinationbetween the ground staff and the crew of the chopper. It also foundviolations of standard operating procedures. The IFF helps air defenceradars identify whether an aircraft or helicopter is friendly or hostile.
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Preliminary indications were that the Mi-17 was shot down by the IAF’sIsraeli-origin Surface-to-air PYthon and DERby, or SPYDER defence missilesystem.
The report further revealed that the helicopter was asked to return becauseof the dogfight 100 km away from Srinagar. A missile was fired at thehelicopter as the IAF ground staff thought it was an enemy chopper.
In April, Pakistan’s Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan told a foreignjournalist that the IAF’s Mi-17 helicopter was shot down by its own side,in a ‘red on red’ incident.
