MIG-21 crashes in Rajasthan, 5th crash this year
In a series of bad news coming from the Indian Air force does not seem to end even though the year is coming to an end.
In yet another MiG-21 crash in the IAF, another pilot was killed when his fighter went down in the Jaisalmer area of Rajasthan on Friday evening.
The MiG-21 crashed in Rajasthan. The MiG-21 crashed near Sudasari village, near the border of India-Pakistan.
Sam police station SHO Dalpat Singh said the plane crashed in sand dunes near Sudasari.
The IAF said on Twitter, “This evening, around 8.30 pm, a MiG-21 aircraft of IAF met with a flying accident in the western sector during a training sortie.”
According to eye-witness accounts, the jet caught fire mid-flight and eventually crashed with a major explosion. The debris of the MiG-21was spread over an area of one kilometer.
Sadly,the pilot,identified as Wing Commander Harshit Sinha, did not get a chance to save his life and eject from the crashing MiG-21.
“With deep sorrow, IAF conveys the sad demise of Wing Commander Harshit Sinha in the flying accident this evening and stands firmly with the family of the braveheart,” it stated.
The Indian Air Force has ordered a court of inquiry to ascertain the exact cause of behind the crash, said an official.
Plane crashes-2021
This year alone as many as five MiG-21s have crashed this year. These crashes have led to the death of 3 pilots.
Incidents
On March 17, a veteran pilot, Group Captain Ashish Gupta, was killed when his MiG-21 crashed soon after taking off from the Gwalior airbase.
On May 20, another pilot, Squadron Leader Abhinav Chaudhary (28), was killed in a similar MiG-21 ‘Bison’ crash. The MiG-21 had taken off from Suratgarh airbase in Rajasthan for a “routine night combat training sortie”.
MiG-21s
The MiG-21s are an old 1963 jets of the Soviet origin. They were the first truly supersonic fighters to be inducted in the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 1963.
The Mig-21 have been used by the IAF in many wars like that of 1971 India-Pakistan, 1999 Kargil war.
Flying caskets
The MiG-21s have a notorious track record of crashing and taking the lives of civilians and pilots of the IAF.
Of the 872 MiG-21s being inducted in the IAF since 1963, over 400 have crashed or have been lost in accidents since 1971-72, killing over 200 pilots and 50 civilians, as earlier was reported by TOI.
This track record has led them to be nicknamed as “Flying caskets” by many.
The MiG-21s should be retired by now according to many defense analysts. But the huge delay in the induction of new jets, specially the indigenously Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA).
This delay in the induction has left the IAF with four squadrons of MiG-21 jets. Each squadron consists of 16-18 jets.
Interestingly, The Soviets have stopped manufacturing the MiG-21s in as early as 1985. But India still lags behind with the induction of newer aircrafts.
The MiG-21s have, however, been upgraded to ‘Bison’ standards.
In a 2014 report, it was claimed that the usage of the age-old machinery by the IAF has deterred with India’s security issues and there is a special need for induction of newer jets.
Rafale Jets
India is right now in the process of inducting Rafale aircrafts, manufactured by French company Dassault aviation.
The already slow Indian government with its defense dealings is further aggravated by the new corruption charges against the deals made by the Indian government with its French counterpart and the Dassault aviation.
So far India has received close to 26 Rafale aircrafts from the Dassault aviation.