Another MiG crash, another pilot dead

As the damaged aircraft fell into a field at Bengenabari village eight kms south of Orang town under Mazbat police station in Darrang, squadron leader Kago managed to escape and parachuted to safety in the adjacent Bheleuguri village. Darrang Superintendent of Police Pallav Bhattacharyya told The Indian Express that flying officer K. Gupta also landed safely at Maj-Rowmari village.

Though the Indian Air Force (IAF) has ordered a Court of Inquiry (COI), there is a sense of deja vu. “New mistakes are seldom made. In most MiG-21 crashes, pilots repeat their mistakes,” Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis said recently.

The problem is all too familiar. “MiG-21 is a very unforgiving aircraft. Unlike a newer Mirage-2000 or even a Jaguar where a pilot can fall back on four levels of safety measures, in a MiG-21 there is no scope for additional safety measures. It requires high skill to fly the aircraft and experienced pilots handle it better,” he said.

Yet, MiG-21s are used to train young pilots “because it’s the cheapest aircraft and has the largest fleet in the IAF. A total of 55 per cent of the IAF comprises MiG-21 aircraft and these will be operational till ound year 2010,” says an official in the flight safety branch.

“If we had our way, we would train our fighter pilots on Mirage 2000s. But we have only two squadrons (around 44) of Mirages. The loss of a Mirage would hurt the IAF more than the loss of a MiG-21,” he added. What hurts most is the loss of trained pilots. “What is the way out?” asks another official.

The Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) deal is expected by the year-end and the aircraft will start flying within three years. Till then the jump from a Suryakiran mark-II subsonic aircraft to the MiG-21 fighters will continue to take its toll. The IAF wants to keep it to “a basic acceptable level”.