M A I N   N E W S

AJTs need of the hour

THE frequent crashes of MiG fighter aircraft into populated areas has not only made the safety record of the Indian Air Force an issue but also raised serious questions about design deficiencies in the country’s oldest war horses.

These tragic incidents have also once again highlighted the IAF’s desperate need to go for Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs). In the absence of the AJTs, the IAF was forced to convert two squadrons of the oldest MiG fighters in its inventory into trainer aircraft due to the absence of a supersonic trainer. But this step neither made training “safe and secure” nor reduced accidents involving these 1960-vintage aircraft.

If one looks back , today’s crash was 15th since September, 2001. In 2002 alone, 11 MiG-21 aircraft were lost . Because of the high rate of accidents, these MiG-21 variants are now known as “flying coffins”. Between 1991 and 2000, there were as many as 283 IAF aircraft accidents, with 100 pilots losing their lives. In November last year, Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy had admitted that the design of the fuel supply system of MiG-21 was suspect leading to engine flameouts. This admission came after a trainer MiG-21 aircraft crashed near Bagdogra killing a Wing Commander and a Flying Officer.

One of the crashes that took place in populated areas was in Jalandhar on May 3 last year when eight persons lost their lives. Only three days ago, a MiG-23 had crashed in a residential area at Mullanpur, near Ludhiana, killing five civilians.

On December 26, a MiG-21 had crashed in Srinagar killing one person. Thirteen days before that, another MiG 21 had crashed in Jodhpur in which the pilot was the casualty.

On September 26, one person lost his life after another MiG-21 crashed near Hoshiarpur. A week earlier, another aircraft of the same make had crashed at Sriganganagar in which the pilot lost his life.

Incidentally when the Bagdogra crash took place, a three-member Russian team was in India and the Defence Ministry had convened a meeting then to “get to the root of the problem”. But now more than four months later, the problem appears “unsolved”.

The three-member team of MiG designers and engineers moved from squadron to squadron to comprehensively review not only the design but also the maintenance procedures and the quality of spares used. But the team could not pinpoint any defect which could be seen as the cause of these crashes.

The IAF has seven variants of the MiG-21. Massive investments had been made in establishing production facilities for the MiG-21 variants , its powerplant, avionics, accessories and weaponry in the country with nearly 10,000 HAL personnel employed in the manufacture, product support and overhaul of the fleet.

In fact, MiG-21 was the first combat aircraft of non-western origin to join the IAF in January, 1963, when the first batch of six MiG 21Fs arrived by sea at Mumbai. Another six were subsequently received leading to the establishment of 28 Squadron which was commanded by then Wg Cdr Dilbagh Singh who later rose to be the Chief of Air Staff. Before their induction, they were comprehensively tested under Indian conditions with standard procedures evolved and training of both pilots and ground personnel initiated.

— Prabhjot Singh