MiG crashes due to less experience

After a series of crashes involving MiG 21 fighters,the Air Force chief has said that inexperience of young pilots is to blame for recent accidents of the ageing fleet.

After a series of crashes involving MiG 21 fighters,the Air Force chief has said that inexperience of young pilots is to blame for recent accidents of the ageing fleet. Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne said that of the three recent crashes,two were caused due to the inexperience of pilots.

Unfortunately except for one case,the other cases point towards inexperience of young pilots who were not able to handle the landing and approach (of the fighter), Brown said,speaking to reporters after the Air Force Day celebrations at the Hindon air base.

He was answering queries on the steep accident rate of the ageing MiG 21 fleet,with the crash of a fighter in Rajasthan on Friday being the fourth loss of the fighter this year. Out of these,one was fatal,while the pilots managed to eject safely in the others.

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The MiG 21 fleet has had one of the worst safety records in the Air Force,and of the 976 fighters inducted into service over the past 40 years,more than half have been lost in accidents. However,Browne said that the unforgiving fighter which is known for its high-speed landings,will no longer be used for training rookie pilots,which is likely to bring down the accident rate.

The present batch is going to be the last course of pilots who would be flying the MiG-21 (for training)… Presently we have only 52 of these (Hawks),and from 187th course all the pilots will be flying Hawks in their Stage-III training, the officer said.

On the US $10 billion tender to procure new fighters for the Air Force,the officer said that the winner of the tender is likely to be announced by next month as the opening of commercial bids has already been cleared by the Defence Ministry. In the middle of November,we shall be able to announce to the whole world which plane we have selected,the L1 (lowest bidder) vendor, he said. European consortium EADS and French Dassault are the only two remaining contenders for the deal.

Earlier in the day,Browne discussed the security situation in the neighbourhood on the occasion of Air Force Day and told officers to stay alert and vigilant. The present security scenario in our immediate neighbourhood seems extremely fragile and a matter of serious concern, the Air Chief said.