20 Fighter Plane Crashes In 5 Years. Did Indian Air Force Train Pilots Poorly?

A number of aircraft belonging to the Indian Air Force (IAF) have crashed in recent years, and sources in the IAF have hinted that pilots' training may have been compromised, leading to these incidents.

Yes, "pilot training was compromised"

bccl

"Due to nonavailability of basic trainer aircraft, intermediate jet trainer and full complement of advance jet simulators, pilot training was compromised. Considering these things, it's an alarming trend we have seen in recent years," said a senior IAF officer, wishing to stay anonymous.

According to Ministry of Defence (MoD) data, 20 fighter aircraft (3 Sukhoi, 12 MiG and 5 Jaguar) have crashed in the last three years. When asked why instances of MiG aircraft crashes are significantly higher, the officer said, "MiG 21s and 27s were brought in from Russia in the 60s and 70s. Considering the rise in MiG accidents, three squadrons of the ageing MiG 21 and 27 fighter jets are set to be phased out this year. Three squadrons of 18 aircraft each will be pulled out due to the end of their life cycle."

Increasing human error accidents

bccl

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found that accidents involving human error (HE) increased from 41 per cent in 1991-97 to 51 per cent in 2010-13. HE comprises errors made by aircrew on flying duty or ground duty or both.

"Various preventive measures like invigoration of aviation safety measures, streamlining of accident reporting procedure, analytical studies and quality audits of the aircraft fleet have been undertaken to reduce accidents. The IAF has also constituted a special committee to investigate reasons behind the accidents and accordingly make changes in pilots' training," said wing commander SS Birdi, IAF spokesperson from Delhi.

"If you check statistics over the last few decades, there has been a steady decrease in the number of accidents," he pointed out. In 1971-80, 29 accidents were recorded, while the corresponding figures for 1981-90 were 31. It then reduced to 27 in 1991-2000 and again to 17 from 2001-10. However, the last five years of this decade have already seen 20 crashes.

The old MiG problem?

Former air chief PV Naik added, "In the 60s, we weren't used to MiG aircraft. Due to the delta wing, MiG aircraft had a high inertia and this led to accidents. Over time, we overcame this issue. The MiG aircraft uses old technology and, of late, this is contributing to the crashes. As far as HE is concerned, there are various contributing factors involved, but in order to reduce percentage of HE, sophisticated simulators and availability of trainers can play a pivotal role."

(Originally published in the Pune Mirror)