‘Let MiGs fly, but safely’

The Indian Air Force (IAF) today found an unexpected ally in Kavita Gadgil, mother of Flt Lt Abhijit Gadgil who died in a MiG-21 air crash t...

The Indian Air Force (IAF) today found an unexpected ally in Kavita Gadgil, mother of Flt Lt Abhijit Gadgil who died in a MiG-21 air crash two years ago, who emerged from an hour-long meeting with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to dismiss reports that she was ‘‘anti-IAF or wanted the MiG-21 fleet grounded or replaced.’’

According to her, Kalam also gave them his ‘‘personal assurance’’ to look into their petition. Gadgil, who established the Abhijit Air Safety Foundation after her son’s death, has been at the forefront of a campaign for greater air safety measures. However, she dismissed reports that she was ‘‘anti-IAF’’ and specified that she was neither for grounding the MiG-21 fleet, nor in favour of replacing it overnight. ‘‘That is not practical. All we want is greater safety for young pilots. We want the IAF to implement certain measures such as the induction of Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT) among others,’’ she said.

However the Gadgils are upset over a letter they received from the IAF alleging that Abhijit’s records indicate ‘‘that he was weak in certain aspects of flying which was monitored.’’ Rejecting the letter, his father Wg Cdr Anil Gadgil (retd) said the IAF could have grounded Abhijit if they were unhappy with his flying record. ‘‘If they didn’t think much of his capabilities why did they make him a two-aircraft leader? Why did they let him into the cockpit in the first place?’’ he asked after meeting the President. In their petition, the Gadgils have referred to the letter as misleading and ‘‘in poor taste’’. They have also filed an additional petition with the President demanding a fresh inquiry into their son’s accident to re-examine the crash.

During the meeting, the Gadgils presented a voluminous petition with their demands to improve air safety. They have suggested that the IAF carry out a squadron-by-squadron audit of aircraft serviceability by an independent board of experts. They have also demanded good high quality simulators for better training, modern safety equipment for the MiG-21s and want the IAF to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of cannibalisation of the fleet and induct AJTs.

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