MiG crash in Bikaner
New Delhi, Aug. 2: A 24-year-old pilot was killed when his outdated MiG-21 fighter aircraft crashed at Nal near Bikaner in Rajasthan this afternoon.
Flying Officer Suraj Pillai from Kerala was practising a circuit of “overshoot” (touch-and-take-off) manoeuvres. The Type 96 MiG-21 aircraft — the same that have been dubbed “flying coffins” — crashed when he was aligning with the runway during landing.
Nal is a forward base of the Indian Air Force. Pillai was commissioned into the service recently. His parents and sister were given the news this evening.
Air force sources said the cause of the crash would be established by a court of inquiry.
This is the second crash of a MiG series aircraft of the IAF this year. A MiG-21 Bison crashed on February 4 because of a suspected engine snag while flying over Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district. The pilot survived.
There were 10 crashes of the IAF fighter aircraft in 2010.
In a written statement in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today, defence minister A.K. Antony said there were 24 accidents of fighter aircraft in the last three financial years (2008-2009 to 2010-2011). Today’s crash takes the toll to 25.
Before the death of Pillai today, there were four air force personnel and five civilians who were killed in these accidents. A total of 24 civilians were also injured.
The defence minister said 23 per cent of the accidents (5.52) were caused by “human error”. The government has paid Rs 40 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of air force personnel killed and Rs 40.69 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of civilians and to injured civilians or for damage to property.
The old MiG-21 “interceptor” aircraft make up a bulk of the IAF’s fighter fleet. The other MiG series aircraft are the MiG-27 and the MiG-29.
The IAF has been wanting to replace the MiG-21 — that were inducted in the 1970s — for decades. An estimated $12 billion order for 126 medium multirole combat aircraft — for which the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Dassault Rafale are competing -— is part of the plan for the replacement of the MiG-21fleet. But the first of those aircraft is expected only in 2015.