LAHORE – A former Indian Defence Minister had told an astonishedparliament that more than half the 872 MiGs it had purchased from Russiahad been lost in accidents, at a cost of over 200 human lives.
According to figures released by the Indian Ministry of Defence in March2013, the Indian Air Force has been losing the equivalent of one fightersquadron (approximately 18 fighters) in accidents every two years.
Most of the Aircraft crashed in India are Russian Jets (Variants of MIG andSukhoi), research shows. According to “Bharat Rakshak,” a website devotedto discussing India’s military affairs, the country has lost 264 MilitaryAircraft from 2000 to 2015.
At least 33 Indian Air Force planes have met accidents during the last fiveyears or so since March 28, 2014, when a Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules hadcrashed near Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh State while on a training mission,killing all five on board and destroying the aircraft completely—reducingit to mere ashes.
These 33 crashes have claimed more than 50 lives, an exclusive researchconducted by the “Jang Group and Geo Television Network” shows. AFPreported on Friday that an Indian fighter jet crashed in desert close tothe border with Pakistan — after collision with a bird, the air force said.
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The ageing Russian-made MiG-21 jet, which crash with some regularity, wason a routine sortie in western Rajasthan state when Friday’s accidenthappened. The pilot ejected safely. “Initial inputs indicate the likelycause of accident as bird hit after takeoff,” the Indian Air Force said ina statement.
All global air forces meet accidents, but the stories of Indian warplanescrashing on training flights have become almost routine news, hence raisingmany questions about the quality of India’s flying equipment and thecapabilities of the men controlling these machines.
The reasons for these frequent accidents include human errors (shoddymaintenance), outdated spares, obsolete air-frames and systemmalfunctioning etc.
