IAF pilot killed in plane crash
By Ajay Banerjee & Bipin Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service

ZIRAKPUR (Patiala district) Dec 3 — A MiG-21 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) blew up in flames minutes after take off from the Chandigarh Air Force Station this afternoon leading to the death of the pilot, Flying Officer Pankaj Joshi.

On the other hand, luckily, for 4,000 people, in the villages of Himatgarh and Dhakauli, it was a providential escape as the aircraft crashed on an 800-metre wide stretch of vacant land between the two villages.

The jet fighter, according to eyewitnesses, had caught fire before exploding between the two villages, located just 2 km away from the Chandigarh Air Force Station. Following the blast, the debris of the ill- fated aircraft was strewn in a radius of almost a kilometre leading to minor fires around the villages.

The pilot, Flying Officer Pankaj Joshi, had barely managed to eject as the aircraft was flying at no more than 1000 feet from the ground, thus preventing the parachute from opening even partially. Even his seat — that should have been detached from the parachute — had not been freed from the parachute when he landed with a thud, said Mr Harjit Singh Bhullar, an eyewitness.

The 25-year-old pilot , who was married recently, was rushed to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Command Hospital, Chandi Mandir. According to sources he had suffered severe internal bleeding and was operated upon immediately. His spinal cord had been injured.

Just a few seconds after the crash it was Mr Harjit Singh Bhullar and his friend, Mr Ravinder Singh, who were the first to attend to the deceased pilot. The duo said they saw an emergency oxygen tank in the pilot’s kit and made him breath from it. Mr Bhullar later told The Tribune that he rubbed the chest of the pilot and asked him if he was alright but got no response from the unconscious pilot.

Within minutes a jeep of the 107 Engineer Regiment of the Indian Army located in Zirakpur reached the spot and rushed the pilot to the hospital. The officials in the jeep were going to some other location but stopped when they saw the aircraft crash.

Mr Bhullar and Mr Ravinder Singh said the fighter aircraft had caught fire and suddenly they heard a blast and the area was covered with smoke while the fuel from the jet was spilled in a potato field. Fire engines were rushed from Panchkula, Chandigarh, Dera Bassi besides the fire engines of the 3 Base Repair Depot (BRD) of the IAF.

The entire area was cordoned off by the Punjab police as little children scampered to get a glimpse of the jet fighter while IAF officials started an on-the-spot collection of the equipment for purposes of enquiry.

Senior IAF officials, including Air Officer Commanding 12 Wing, Air- Commodore S.K. Banerjee, and the Station Adjutant, Wing Commander C.S. Grewal, rushed to the spot. Air Commodore Banerjee refused to comment upon the reasons for the crash of the Russian built MIG while adding that it was on a routine sortie. "A court of enquiry will determine the reasons,’’ he told reporters while inspecting the crash site.

On a question if such high density of population disturbed the IAF’s flying, he said "this cannot be prevented and it happens all over the world.’’ It may be recollected that some years ago the IAF had pointed out to the civil authorities that the height of buildings in Zirakpur was posing a problem for aircraft landing or taking off from the eastern side of the air base.

Till 3 pm, or till two hours of the crash, no one from the Punjab Government or its field officers like the SDM had reached the spot. Only the DSP of Dera Bassi, Mr Harcharan Singh Bhullar, had arrived and managed the cordoning-off operations. However, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Panchkula, Ms Sukriti Lekhi, arrived on the scene and offered assistance to the IAF personnel at the site and also enquired about the well-being of the pilot.