Our trainee fighter pilots still fly the MIG aircrafts which are vintage though over 400 MiG-21 aircraft of the Indian Air Force have crashed in the last 60 years, claiming the lives of over 200 pilots and 60 civilians. A special report by Narvir Rooprai
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) bench comprising Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Sudhir Agarwal sometime back dismissed a plea seeking an exemption from the ban on 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles in Delhi-NCR in line with a decision by the Supreme Court. Ironically, however, our trainee fighter pilots still fly the MIG aircrafts which are vintage though over 400 MiG-21 aircraft of the Indian Air Force have crashed in the last 60 years, claiming the lives of over 200 pilots and 60 civilians.
On July 29 a crash in Rajasthan’s Barmer involved this older Type 96 variant of MiG-21, a twin-seat trainer used to prepare young pilots just posted into the Squadron after finishing their basic and advanced jet training. Wing Commander M. Rana (38) and Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal (26) were killed in the accident.
However, it was not a freak incident. The figures are frightening: Reportedly, “of the 872 MiG-21s progressively inducted by IAF, over 400 have been lost in accidents since 1971-72, killing over 200 pilots and almost 60 civilians on the ground”. At least six MiG-21s have crashed since January last year, killing five pilots. According to the reports, the MiG-21 had completed its retirement period in the mid-1990s.
Official view
Every time a crash takes place, where young pilots die, leaving behind their widows, small children or vailing parents behind, authorities get away by making suitable statements. This incident was no exception and the Indian Air Force issued a statement. It said, “A twin seater Mig-21 trainer aircraft of the IAF was airborne for a training sortie from Uttarlai air base in Rajasthan this evening. Around 9:10 pm, the aircraft met with an accident near Barmer. Both pilots sustained fatal injuries. IAF deeply regrets the loss of lives and stands firmly with the bereaved families.” As per information released by the IAF, this was a trainer version of the fighter aircraft with two pilots on board. As is the norm for training missions, there was one senior pilot, Wing Commander M Rana, on board along with a junior pilot, Flight Lieutenant Adivitya Bal. The typical mission in such sorties is to impart operational training to the junior pilots and also to test their skills in a constant effort to keep their skills and knowledge up to date and to suggest improvements if any. A court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident, it said.
