There are four squadrons of MiG-21 Bison aircraft currently in service in the IAF with each squadron comprising 16-18 aircraft, including two trainer versions. Out of these, one squadron, Srinagar-based No 51 Squadron, is going to be retired from service or ‘number plated’ in IAF jargon on September 30 this year, leaving three squadrons in service. Out of these three squadrons, one will be number plated each year and, thus, MiG-21 Bison will be phased out of IAF by 2025. The IAF is looking towards reviving these squadrons back into service with the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. The MiG-21 Bison is an upgraded version of the MiG-21bis which had been first inducted into service in 1976. The MiG-21 FL, which was an older version of the aircraft and which joined service in the early 1960s, had been phased out of IAF in 2013. The IAF received the first upgraded MiG-21 Bison, which had a quantum leap of upgrade of avionics, in 2001 and the last of these upgraded fighters was received in 2008.
The Bison version of the MiG-21 has also seen the induction of women fighter pilots in the IAF with Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi becoming the first woman pilot of the IAF to complete a solo flight on the aircraft in June 2016. The MiG-21 aircraft, with all its versions, formed the backbone of the fleet of fighter aircraft of the IAF, and the number of crashes that took place in the IAF were the highest in its category. Most of these versions had been licence-produced in India.
Flying Coffin
There were many inquiries into the crashes amidst allegations of poor safety record of these aircraft with a large number of pilots having lost their lives in accidents. More than 20 aircraft have crashed since 2010 and 38 aircraft crashed between 2003 and 2013 in a period of ten years. The high rate of accidents earned the aircraft the nickname of ‘Flying Coffin”. In September 2001, a MiG-21bis crash in Suratgarh claimed the life of Flight Lieutenant Abhijeet Gadgil soon after take-off. There was a controversy when the pilot’s mother, Kavita Gadgil, raised the issue of technical defects in the aircraft and said that her son was being wrongly blamed for the crash. She received a letter from the then Inspector General of Flight Safety of IAF, Air Marshal Ashok Goyal, accusing her of demoralising the IAF with her statements. Later, the then Air Chief, Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi, apologised for the tone of the letter and wrote to Kavita Gadgil withdrawing it and absolving her son of any blame.
