MiG-21 fighter jets should be phased out: Father of pilot who died in Moga Crash

"Each year, a number of our fighter pilots are being killed during crashes of these “flying coffins” that have been discarded by the Russians in 1980. Yet our government is dilly-dallying the decision to do away with these vintage Soviet air crafts," said Dr Anjum, a cousin of Abhinav.

Squadron Leader Abhinav Choudhary.

Written by: Amit Sharma

3 min readMeerutMay 22, 2021 11:08 AM IST First published on: May 22, 2021 at 11:07 AM IST

“I HAVE lost my son but I appeal to the government with folded hands that the MiG-21 fighter planes should immediately be phased out from the Indian Air Force (IAF) so that more parents may not have to bear such an irreparable loss,” said a weeping Satendra Chaudhary at his residence in Meerut’s Gangasagar Colony on Friday.

As news that his son, Squadron Leader Abhinav Chaudhary, had died in a MiG-21 Bison fighter aircraft crash in Moga district of Punjab Thursday night spread in Meerut, near and dear ones started flocking to their house to console the bereaved family.

“The younger ones in the IAF squad are still being allowed to train on one of the oldest fighter planes in the country. These planes have a history of developing snags during flying and had claimed many lives of our fighter pilots. This is a serious issue concerning lives of our fighter pilots and I appeal to the government that these accident-prone aircraft should no longer be allowed by the IAF,” said the father.