vigoratus

JAISALMER: An IAF Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet crashed at Rajmathai village, 170km from Jaisalmer town of Rajasthan on Thursday, killing one of its
pilots. This is the first timethat a Sukhoi-30 MKI, which was inducted into IAF in 2002, has crashed.

According to Wing Commander Tarun Kumar Singha, IAF spokesman, the aircraft took off from Pune on a routine exercise with Wing Commander S V Munje and Wing Commander P S Narah at the controls.

After completing the mission in Pokhran Firing Range in Jaisalmer, the plane was returning to Pune when it developed a technical snag and the pilots lost communication with Air Traffic Control. Defence PRO Lt Col N N Joshi said the crash took place around 10.20am.

The pilots, meanwhile, diverted the plane over an uninhabited area and tried to eject. While the parachute of Munje functioned properly, the parachute of Narah did not open and he fell to his death, said Singha. A court of inquiry has been ordered into the incident, he said.

Both pilots had good experience in flying fighter aircraft and hence the exact reason behind the crash would be known only after getting the inquiry report, he said. According to sources, the aircraft, which crashed in an agricultural field in Punma Ram Jat Ki Dhani at Hariyasar village, broke into smithereens. The plane caught fire after touching the ground and exploded in a huge ball of fire, they said.

As news of the crash spread, hundreds of people rushed to the spot. Villagers, who brought in a water tanker, tried to put out the fire. India at present operates 60 of these air superiority, 4.5 generation fighters in three of its 33.5 squadrons. While 20 Squadron ‘Lightinings’ and 30 Squadron ‘Rhinos’ are based in Pune, the 24 Squadron ‘Hawks’ are located in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.

Being the most potent aircraft in the IAF’s inventory, the Sukhoi-30 has been fielded by the IAF in most of its bilateral and multi-lateral air exercises with foreign air forces. The aircraft had made a mark and had gained a reputation for itself while participating in the prestigious ‘Red Flag’ air exercise of the NATO in Nellis air base of the US Air Force in the later part of 2008.

India has placed a fresh order for 40 more Sukhois with Russia in the wake of the then IAF chief Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi writing to the government in 2006 on the depleting strength of the IAF.

Pilot killed in first Sukhoi-30 crash - India - The Times of India

tsk tsk tsk

Sad to hear about the loss of the life, but this jet is supposed to be India's pride, what went wrong? Maybe India should consider buying some western battle-proven technology.

_Lahore_Ka_Cheetah

Sad indeed.

I doubt there is a flaw in the tech itself, rather its more likely a result of poor maintenance, which is common in IAF, and can be proven by its attrition rate.

hellraiser

What is so sad about it?

you seem to have a soft corner for the hindus

Tanvir S.

What a racist thing to say.

I thought what made one person better than the other was fear of God and good deeds - not whether they were Muslim or Hindu.

What if the pilot was Muslim ? Then would you allow somebody to feel sorry or would you say that since he was an Indian Muslim he was a lesser Muslim. Very twisted and un-Islamic, IMHO.

Ruzaan

Not just racist but irrelevant. The pilot was a Sikh.

hellraiser

This post has been disemvoweled.

My th plt's sl BH...............(Brn n Hll)

hellraiser

Even if the pilot was muslim, why on earth should we feel sorry for some savage pilot who wouldn’t hesitate to direct his missiles on our fatherland and kill our innocent people?

vigoratus

NEW DELHI: In yet another crash in the IAF, a MiG-27 "medium strike'' fighter went down near Luni, about 40 km south of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, on
Friday morning. Though the pilot managed to eject safely, six persons and a child were injured on the ground.

The "swing-wing'' MiG-27 had taken off from the Jodhpur airbase on a routine flying sortie when the jet apparently developed "some engine problem'', forcing Squadron Leader P Dhawan to eject at about 8.20 am.

The ill-fated fighter, however, crashed into an under-construction house in a field in a small hamlet in Salawas village of Luni, injuring six workers and a two-year-old child. "One of the injured is serious,'' said an official.

IAF, on its part, has ordered a court of inquiry into the incident to ascertain the exact reason behind the crash. It comes close after an advanced twin-seater Sukhoi-30MKI also crashed in Rajasthan on April 30, killing one of the two pilots.

The over 100 MiG-27MLs in the IAF fleet were, incidentally, hardly flown in 2005-2006 after it was found that their R-29 engines were causing a large number of accidents.

With the MiG-27 fleet undergoing an upgrade since then, the IAF actually plans to operate the fighters well into the next decade, even though they are ageing, because they constitute an important element of its strike fleet.

The IAF crash rate had come down dramatically to around 0.27 accidents per 10,000 hours of flying, with an over 50% reduction in crashes after 2003-04.

From 1971-72 to 2003-04, the IAF's consolidated average rate stood at 1.09 accidents per 10,000 hours of flying, roughly translating into the loss of 23 aircraft and the death of 10-14 pilots every year.

7 civilians injured as MiG-27 crashes - India - The Times of India

one more

tragic loss of life. good thing the pilot was able to eject in time.

junaid001

because he was a soldier....

hellraiser

So what?
If i had my way, no hindu would survive

xephyr

Whole world is talking about your country...you just proved it..

junaid001

yes thats why its not your way.

by the way your talk is cowards type therefore you are harmless i guess.

BanTaleban

hellraiser - you've proved by your immature posts that bravado is a sure sign of your cowardice

hellraiser

You hindu-loving traitor

i don't know if you are a pakistani but your username probably indicates that u r muslim. So why do you have a soft corner for the hindus??

sandhu786

Junaid is a Hindu or Punjabi/Pakthoon hating citizen from south of the country- read his other posts. In my ancestral village in Chakwal, muslims used to throw stones at Hindu temples and they would keep them in check.

xephyr

Sandhu and Hellraiser....have you gone to hospital and got checked your brains recently..If not do that...Hope, you find the probelm for your mental illness....

DO NOT post nonsense here

junaid001

last thing i would want is a certificate from a thick head for being a patriotic pakistani and a muslim.

junaid001

by the way which of my posts show i am punjabi/pakhtoon hating , i guess you really to get your brain checked....

Punjabee in USA

And you think thats something to be proud about ??

junaid001

i guess he is but his types mostly run on fictional tales may be some nasty street kids who throw stone and run away and then brag they scared some.