`Mr Fernandes, why is IAF’s `flying coffin’ MiG-21 still in the air?’

* Seven MiGs have crashed in the past four months and 59 in four years.
* 22 young pilots were killed and another 10 injured.
* Indian Air Force (IAF) has faced serious problems with these overhauled engines.
* Getting spares for these 40-year-old aircraft are a serious problem.
There is a growing lobby among the IAF pilots which wants the MiG-21s to be grounded. The problem is that MiG-21s are the backbone of the IAF with half its fighter squadrons comprising these Russian aircraft of the 1960s vintage.
“These air crashes have become a pattern. George Fernandes went to France recently but did they conclude the deal for a modern aircraft! We have had Mirage 2000s for over 16 years and till date there have been only three crashes. There are no cheap alternatives,” a young MiG-21 pilot told The Indian Express today. The pilots don’t care whether it is the Mirages or the Jaguars (twin engine) or the American F-16s. “Get whatever is available in newer technology,” he added.

It was another day of mourning for the IAF today. Yet another flight lieutenant, the backbone of a squadron, was killed. Considering the number of hours and money spent on him, it’s more expensive losing a pilot than spending a few crores buying newer aircraft, pointed out another pilot.

Fernandes and the bureaucrats in MoD have four lines ready each time a question is asked in Parliament about the MiG crashes. For the past two years, these have remain unchanged. Only the casualty figures and the number of aircraft lost have increased.

“After each accident, a court of inquiry (COI) is set up to find out the reasons for the accident and also to suggest remedial measures. The findings of the COI reveal that technical defect, human error and bird-hit are the three main causes for these accidents,” Fernandes said in the Rajya Sabha on July 26, 2000.

He added: “A high-powered Committee on Fighter Aircraft Accidents (COFAA) was constituted under the chairmanship of the then scientific adviser to the defence minister to analyse the causes of the accidents. This committee submitted its report in September 1997. It has made certain recommendations to bring down the accident rate. Implementation of these recommendations would involve changes in the organisational structure, procedures, training, design, technology etc. About 55 out of 84 recommendations have been implemented so far.”

That’s little consolation for the families of the pilots who have died and the IAF fraternity. “The IAF has been asking the Government for the Light Combat Aircraft and Advanced Jet Trainers and for replacing the ageing MiG-21s since the ’70s. But the LCA is yet to take off and the AJT is like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” a senior IAF official lamented.