Tags:
Journalism of Courage
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 8216;8216;anti-IAF or wanted the MiG-21 fleet grounded or replaced.8217;8217;
According to her, Kalam also gave them his 8216;8216;personal assurance8217;8217; to look into their petition. Gadgil, who established the Abhijit Air Safety Foundation after her son8217;s death, has been at the forefront of a campaign for greater air safety measures. However, she dismissed reports that she was 8216;8216;anti-IAF8217;8217; and specified that she was neither for grounding the MiG-21 fleet, nor in favour of replacing it overnight. 8216;8216;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,8217;8217; she said.
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.
