This Pune Couple Lost Their Son In A MiG21 Crash, They Kept Fighting Until Justice Was Served

When Flight Lieutenant Abhijit Gadgil died in MiG 21 crash in 2001 in Sutagarh, Rajasthan, his parents Captain Anil Gadgil and Kavita were devastated. But what shocked them was that their son was blamed for the crash and not the plane which even then was called the ¡®flying coffin¡¯.

Captain Anil Gadgil

Spatial disorientation was later cited as the reason for the crash. Spatial disorientation refers to the pilot's inability to determine position, motion and location in relation to their surroundings and environment. The parents who had just lost their 27-year-old son didn¡¯t accept any of explanations and attempts to blame their son for the crash and decided to counter it.

They sought justice for their son and rightly so.

¡°He took off in his MiG-21 and within a few seconds, his aircraft nose-dived into the sands of the dark area ahead. The total flight time was 33 seconds. All over,¡± shared Captain Anil Gadgil, Abhijit¡¯s father with The Better India.

¡°And with this, our whole world turned upside down,¡± he added.

Thus began their own battle

The name ¡°flying coffins¡± gave the MiG 21 a lot of disrepute, but various incidents of crashes over claimed over 200 lives and there are hundreds of parents like Gadgils who lost of sons in these crashes.

Though Gadgils don¡¯t endorse this name given to the plane, the plane that crashed with their son flying it also had a technical issue which resulted in the crash and death of a young and fine pilot.

Captain Anil Gadgil

Captain Anil and his wife Kavita decided to fight, not only for the justice for their son but for all those pilots who lost their lives due to faults in the aircraft. Captain Anil is an IAF veteran who served as a Wing Commander and had participated in the 1971 war. He had retired in 1985. His wife Kavita led the campaign for the justice for his son and hundreds other.

¡°Kavita came into the spotlight in 2002 as the grieving mother who refused to accept that scores of young pilots like her son were dying in horrific MiG-21 plane crashes in a peacetime environment,¡± Anil says.

¡°She submitted a memorandum to the then defence minister, the Late Mr George Fernandes, raising questions on the alarming rate of the fatal accidents of these aircraft and the letter from the Air Force blaming Abhijit¡¯s ¡®spatial disorientation¡¯ for his MiG-21 crash.¡±

In crusade for justice, they met the President

Seeking justice for their son, the couple also met the then president APJ Abdul Kalam and after their consistent efforts and pursuit for justice, the IAF finally conceded in a letter that the said ¡®spatial disorientation¡¯ could have been the result of the technical malfunction in the plane and Flt Lt Abhijit wouldn¡¯t be blamed for the crash.

President also assured them the safety of pilots flying the MiG 21 would be a priority. In 2007, Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra directed Rang De Basanti was partially inspired by the couple¡¯s efforts and struggle to get justice for their son.

Founded Jeet Aerospace Institute

After getting justice for their son, the couple decided to immortalise their son¡¯s name with a cause that will keep his alive forever.

In 2006, the couple decided to establish The Jeet Aerospace Institute (JAI) on the land owned by the couple near Khadakwasla dam in Pune to train the young people who dream to fly for the IAF.

Captain Anil Gadgil

JAI was established with support from eminent scientist Dr RA Mashelkar and a journalist, Kumar Ketkar.

While Captain Anil brought a firsthand experience of flying with the premier organisation like IAF, his Kavita managed the operations.

¡°We designed a mobile twin-jet simulator to train pilots and raised funds to get that built. We also built a small house, a couple of classrooms and a hangar to keep the mobile simulator where pilots are trained to fly in a jet cockpit,¡± says Kavita.

The whole endeavour did cost nearly two crores and the majority of the investment was made by Gadgil couple and their elder son Kedar who helped his parents with Rs 25 lakh.