NEW DELHI – Over the February 27 PAF strike against India, Indian Air Forcetakes action against top Air Force Officers over shooting down own aircraftassuming it to be the enemy aircraft.
Disciplinary action will be taken against two senior Indian Air Force (IAF)officers for the shooting down of a Mi-17 V-5 helicopter in Jammu andKashmir’s Badgam by friendly missile fire on February 27, 2019.
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, in acandid admission of the fatal error by the IAF during a failed attack bythe Pakistani Air Force, declared that the Court of Inquiry (CoI) into thefatal incident in which six air force personnel and a civilian were killedhas been completed and two officers found guilty.
“We accept this was our big mistake and we will ensure such mistakes arenot repeated in future,” ACM Bhadauria stated during the annual Air Forcepress conference on Friday.
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The IAF Mi-17 V-5 of the Srinagar-based 154 Helicopter Unit was shot downby own SPYDER air defence missile over Budgam about 10 minutes after ittook off while IAF fighters were involved in a dogfight with Pakistani jetsabout 100 km away over the skies of Jammu and Kashmir.
The officers responsible for defence responsibilities at the Srinagarairbase ordered the missile to lock on to the helicopter mistaking theaircraft for an incoming enemy missile.
