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Journalism of Courage
The MiG fighter aircraft fleet ‘‘is the mainstay of Indian Air Force and will remain the mainstay of the air force’’, and every effort was being made to reduce the rate of accidents and provide better training to the fighter pilots, Union Minister of Defence, George Fernandes, asserted in the Lok Sabha today.
Responding to a calling attention motion on the situation, ‘‘arising out of frequent crashes of MiG aircraft in the country,’’ Fernandes defended the aircraft and blamed the media for painting a wholly negative picture all the time.
In a written reply, Fernandes said the root cause for fighter aircraft accidents were human error, technical defect, bird hit, and other causes. The bulk of accidents (38 pc) are due to human error followed by technical defect (37 pc). The majority of human error accidents, ‘‘are caused due to error of skill, judgement, poor airmanship, non-compliance of instruction, lack of situational awareness, etc,’’ it said. He also said that although there was no direct relationship between lack of an Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) and aircraft accidents, the Centre had decided ‘‘to induct AJT to ensure smooth transition of trainee pilots to the frontline fighter squadrons equipped with high technology aircraft.’’
In fact, it was the issue of inducting AJT that appeared to be the theme of the discussion today. Congress(I) MP, Jagmeet Singh Brar, who raised the motion said the airforce had lost over 135 MIG aircrafts and 200 pilot since 1965. Apart from the tragic human cost, the nation had lost thousands of crores of rupees which could have been saved by investing in AJTs.
He alleged there was ‘‘deliberate delay’’ in acquisition of AJTs and cheap spares were being used — a charge denied by Fernandes. Both Brar and Congress (I) MP Lakshman Singh referred to the petition signed by 150 MPs handed to the PM over a year ago demanding that acquisition of AJTs be expedited. Fernandes said India was ‘‘on the threshold of acquiring AJTs’’ and alternatives were being considered. He also said there had been a ‘‘steady fall’’ in the accident rate of MiGs and his ministry would ‘‘do anything’’ to reduce the accidents further.
Brar, however, remained dissatisfied with the reply and announced that he was walking out — a good hour after the rest of his mates had staged a walk out.
