Don146;t just wing it

Last Saturday8217;s crash involving the IAF aerobatic team was disturbing not just for the tragedy or for the shine it takes off Suryakiran, considered the world8217;s best in air showmanship, along with the British Red Arrows and Canadian Snow Birds. The death of two pilots 8212; one veteran and one rookie 8212; and the loss of one aircraft reminded everyone of the question that has been around at least since 1997. That was the year when the current commander-in-chief, President Abdul Kalam, headed, in his then capacity as advisor to the defence ministry, the Committee on Fighter Aircraft Accidents. IAF, by then, was already crash-conscious. A decade later aircraft and pilots showcasing the force8217;s finest skills are joining the sad list made up mostly by MIG-21s.

Ironically, the quest for a solution began even before serious attempts to frame the problem. In 1982, then Air Marshal and later air chief, Dennis La Fontaine, again heading a committee, had recommended IAF use advanced jet trainers. Why AJT acquisition took so long 8212; the NDA finally okayed it, nine governments separated the first recommendation and the clearance 8212; is one of those mysteries of governance to which everyone has a favourite scandalous answer. There have also been questions that lack of an AJT apart whether all of IAF8217;s selection, aptitude-testing and training schedules are as good as they should be.

You don8217;t have to be reflexively patriotic to feel especially sad about all this. For, the fact is that IAF is actually a fine force, recognised as such by peers around the world, including the Americans. Indo-US joint air exercises have always ended with the Americans plainly admiring their mock combatants8217; skills. If an institution does not have merit in its DNA, serial mishaps can be seen as part of an inevitable pattern. But if a high order of skills is a natural habitat of an institution, departures from the expected standard point to something much more awful 8212; that perhaps just a few things awry are making the whole thing look wrong. IAF has ordered an inquiry into the Suryakiran crash. That is not enough. Official inquiries have become a blindspot. The force must be seen to be asking itself the question the public is, and as forcefully: when will IAF crashes become a rarity?