The weekend was great and back at office on a boring yet bright Monday morning! The morning is bright coz’ it’s sunny and not that cold and boring coz’ the traffic was slow moving on the way to office. ha!! typical Bangalore. cannot do much about it.
There is one particular thing that always itches the back of my mind, does a ‘knock knock’ and goes off…And It knocked once during this weekend also.Mig 21 fighter planes. Ever since these planes came in to Indian Air force, They make news for two reasons. One - During the Republic day or Independence day Defense displays . Two – Crash due to a Technical snag or pilot errors.
But I always wonder…why Mig 21 alone??
The MiGs have been dubbed "flying coffins" for registering over 100 crashes from 1993 till date. Indian air force says 2005 proved a safer year for them recording very lesser Mig 21 Crashes.
According to Financial Express, from the beginning of the 1990s Russia stopped operating the MiG-21 and producing spare parts for it, and for this reason India has to buy low-quality spare parts in the East-European countries.
The official statistics claim that 283 crashes occurred from 1991 to 2000, in which the Air Force of India lost 221 aircraft, and 100 pilots perished. As many as 62 per cent of the cases involved the MiG-21 fighters made by the HAL in the 1960s. The "human factor" caused 42 per cent of the crashes, technical malfunctions - 44 per cent, and collisions with birds - 7 per cent. Hmm.. Statistics are always scary!
And 2006 should have started with a sour note for IAF with MIG 21 Crash earlier this month on 4th near NAL airbase ,Bikaner fortunately with no casualty.
But according to Air Chief Marshal H Moolgavkar (Retd), PVSM, MVC , If a pilot is competent, there would not be so many crashes. However, just like no two human beings are the same, no two pilots are the same, and the significant number of accidents is due to pilot errors as proved in the courts of inquiry which are meticulously held by the competent authorities directly concerned. So, it is unfair to conclude MiG-21 aircraft as flying coffins.
He also accepts that Mig 21’s are indeed a difficult aircraft to fly and there are technical failures for which heavy price is paid in terms of loss of both precious lives and investment.He also says it is difficult to provide a clear cut answer. If the situation permits, a pilot ejects from the aircraft and generally he lands safe.
In 2003 the then Defense Minster George Fernandes tested for
Mig 21’s ‘airworthiness’ by flying for nearly half-an-hour in a 20-year-old two-seater trainer version in overcast conditions.Obviously he must have chosen a very experienced pilot!!
Acceptable, Life of a fighter plane pilot is not easy. Still Its Indian Air force’s duties to make sure that at least technical snags are minimized. And this is what IAF has promised. After all the one who is flying the plane somehow could eject himself … a fighter plane falling straight on your head when u just took three days off from work to spend time with your wife and children in your farm house is really scary enough…!
There is one particular thing that always itches the back of my mind, does a ‘knock knock’ and goes off…And It knocked once during this weekend also.Mig 21 fighter planes. Ever since these planes came in to Indian Air force, They make news for two reasons. One - During the Republic day or Independence day Defense displays . Two – Crash due to a Technical snag or pilot errors.
But I always wonder…why Mig 21 alone??
The MiGs have been dubbed "flying coffins" for registering over 100 crashes from 1993 till date. Indian air force says 2005 proved a safer year for them recording very lesser Mig 21 Crashes.
According to Financial Express, from the beginning of the 1990s Russia stopped operating the MiG-21 and producing spare parts for it, and for this reason India has to buy low-quality spare parts in the East-European countries.
The official statistics claim that 283 crashes occurred from 1991 to 2000, in which the Air Force of India lost 221 aircraft, and 100 pilots perished. As many as 62 per cent of the cases involved the MiG-21 fighters made by the HAL in the 1960s. The "human factor" caused 42 per cent of the crashes, technical malfunctions - 44 per cent, and collisions with birds - 7 per cent. Hmm.. Statistics are always scary!
And 2006 should have started with a sour note for IAF with MIG 21 Crash earlier this month on 4th near NAL airbase ,Bikaner fortunately with no casualty.
But according to Air Chief Marshal H Moolgavkar (Retd), PVSM, MVC , If a pilot is competent, there would not be so many crashes. However, just like no two human beings are the same, no two pilots are the same, and the significant number of accidents is due to pilot errors as proved in the courts of inquiry which are meticulously held by the competent authorities directly concerned. So, it is unfair to conclude MiG-21 aircraft as flying coffins.
He also accepts that Mig 21’s are indeed a difficult aircraft to fly and there are technical failures for which heavy price is paid in terms of loss of both precious lives and investment.He also says it is difficult to provide a clear cut answer. If the situation permits, a pilot ejects from the aircraft and generally he lands safe.
In 2003 the then Defense Minster George Fernandes tested for
Mig 21’s ‘airworthiness’ by flying for nearly half-an-hour in a 20-year-old two-seater trainer version in overcast conditions.Obviously he must have chosen a very experienced pilot!!
Acceptable, Life of a fighter plane pilot is not easy. Still Its Indian Air force’s duties to make sure that at least technical snags are minimized. And this is what IAF has promised. After all the one who is flying the plane somehow could eject himself … a fighter plane falling straight on your head when u just took three days off from work to spend time with your wife and children in your farm house is really scary enough…!
2 comments:
Very ironically, one day after the air chief described the coinage of "flying coffin" as a sub-editor's flight of imagination, a MiG crashed. I agree, IAF should do something to make them safe.
Read on..The Decision by the Defence Minister..!
'IAF to soon shed ageing MiG-21 tech'
Press Trust of India
Posted online: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at 1611 hours IST
Updated: Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at 1645 hours IST
New Delhi, January 24: To ensure safety of its ageing MiG-21 fleet, Indian Air Force would soon shed redundant and unreliable technology including aero engines, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here today.
"I have encouraged the IAF to decommission redundant and unreliable technology such as aero engines of a certain aircraft fleet after systematic cost-benefit analysis of operational, maintenance, financial and safety factors", he said inaugurating the first-ever International Flight Safety Conference here.
Mukherjee also disclosed that recently, government had to resort to a fast track procurement mechanism to make the Indian Air Force tide over a ‘critical situation’ in low fleet serviceability triggered by acute shortage of spares.
"A fast-track procurement mechanism was evolved and a task force deputed to Russia for immediate purchases of spare and expeditious finalisation of contracts", he said while not directly blaming the shortage of critical spare for increasing number of MiG-21 aircraft accidents, dubbed as ‘flying coffins’. With the country facing the problems arising out of the 'open sky' policy in the form of air corridor clutters, the issue formed backdrop to the conference being hosted by India for the first time.
The frequent crash of fighter aircraft naturally formed the main theme in experiences shared by aviation experts here with their foreign counterparts.
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