Hyderabad, India: The leadership of Indian Air Force is facing charges of being an incompetent, unprofessional and undertrained Air Force which lost its 11 war flying machines in first six months of year 2019, reports DND News Agency.
Out of 11 flying machines IAF lost, six were Russian made.
Air Chief Birender Singh Dhanoa who had himself been a Fighter Pilot and had flown MiG-21, SEPECAT Jaguar, MiG-29 and Su-30MKI had no answer when media got him at Combined Graduation Parade at Air Force Academy on June 15 here at Dundigal, Hyderabad.
He avoided media and said that IAF will probe An-32 aircraft crash and will share findings with media.
The list of fighter jet crashes includes SEPECAT Jaguar, British Aerospace Hawk 200, Antonov An-32, Sukhoi Su-30, Mirage 2000 to MiG-27, MIG21 and also Mi-17 helicopter.
On 3 June 2019, an Antonov An-32 twin engine turboprop transport aircraft Registration number K2752 which was under the use of Indian Air Force lost contact after taking off from Jorhat Airport in Assam to its landing destination of Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh. All 13 officers on board killed in accident.
The wreckage of aircraft was spotted on June 11, 16 km from Lipo at an approximate elevation of 12000 feet by a Military chopper Mi-17 helicopter. The accident location is about 34 km WNW of the destination.
In January, a Jaguar aircraft of the Indian Air Force had crashed in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district. Jaguar crashed soon after taking off on a routine mission from the Gorakhpur Air Force Station.
On February 19, two Hawk aeroplanes collided mid-air and crashed, killing Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi.
Earlier in February, a Mirage 2000 aircraft of the IAF had crashed at the HAL airport in Bengaluru killing a pilot on the spot.
In the same month, a MIG-27 fighter aircraft of IAF had crashed in Eta village in Pokaran tehsil of Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district.
IAF lost one MIG21 and one Sukhoi Su-30 on February 27, 2019 in dogfight with its archrival —Pakistan Air Force while Indian Defence system shot down its own Mi-17 helicopter on the same day in apparent panic after Pakistan Air Force shot down its MIG21 and one Sukhoi Su-30. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by Pakistan and then released as good will gesture while Sukhoi Su-30 pilot successfully ejected before aircraft was downed within the territory of India.
In March, the IAF lost two aircraft in separate crash incidents.
A MiG-27 aircraft had crashed late March near Jodhpur in Rajasthan but the pilot ejected safely. The jet had taken off from Utarlai Air Force base and it experienced engine problems leading to the crash around 11:45 am in Sirohi district about 120 km south of Jodhpur.
Early March, a MiG-21 fighter aircraft of the IAF had crashed in Rajasthan’s Bikaner district with the pilot.
In the same month, a MIG-27 fighter aircraft of IAF had crashed. The aircraft was on a routine mission and crashed after getting airborne from the Nal airbase near Bikaner.
