3 min readHyderabad, New DelhiDec 5, 2023 02:30 PM IST
First published on: Dec 4, 2023 at 11:38 AM IST
Two pilots onboard a Pilatus PC 7 Mk II trainer aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were killed Monday in an accident involving the aircraft during a routine training sortie from the Air Force Academy at Dundigal in Telangana. Till late Monday, the IAF did not make public the names of the pilots. Till late Monday, the IAF did not make public the names of the pilots.
The aircraft had taken off from Dundigal Air Force station in the morning and was found completely charred in the Ravelli area near Toopran town in the Medak district.
Rohini Priyadarshini, Superintendent of Police, Medak, told indianexpress.com that the incident took place at 8.34 am at a site belonging to a small real-estate venture under the Toopran police station limits. “There are no civilian casualties, but we fear the trainer and a trainee, both males, who were aboard are no more. The IAF team from Dundigal is conducting an inquiry,” Priyadarshini said.
As per sources, the incident took place around 9 am and the sortie was learnt to be a navigational sortie in which the aircraft was flying at around 4,000 ft.
In a statement, the IAF confirmed that both pilots—an instructor and a cadet—sustained fatal injuries in the accident. It said a Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. There was no damage to any civil life or property, the IAF added.
This is the first accident involving a PC 7 Mk II trainer aircraft. The IAF had procured 75 Pilatus PC-7 Mk II planes from Switzerland under a contract signed in 2012 to meet the critical shortfall in basic pilots’ training. All the aircraft were delivered by 2015 by the Swiss manufacturer.
The IAF also had the option of placing a follow-on order for another 38 aircraft, but this contract was not signed after the Swiss firm was blacklisted for a year by the Ministry of Defence on charges of corrupt practices employed by the firm to bag the deal for the IAF in 2012.
The ban was, however, partially lifted a few months later for the IAF to maintain its fleet of 75 basic trainer aircraft.
In March, the Ministry of Defence signed a contract with the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to procure 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft for the IAF at a cost of over Rs 6,800 crore. Manufactured by HAL and indigenously designed and developed by its Aircraft Research & Design Centre, HTT-40 is powered by a four-bladed turboprop engine.
The aircraft is aimed at meeting the shortage of basic trainer aircraft of the Indian Air Force for the training of newly-inducted pilots and the contract includes procurement of associated equipment and training aids including simulators. The aircraft are scheduled to be delivered over six years.
The aircraft had taken off from Dundigal Air Force station in the morning and was found completely charred in the Ravelli area near Tupran. (ANI Photo)
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