New Delhi: Of the 34 plane crashes that the Indian Air Force (IAF) suffered between 2017 and 2022, more than 50 percent were due to human error, including the one that killed former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, according to a House panel report.
The Standing Committee on Defence report tabled earlier this week in Parliament said that 19 of the 34 accidents were because of human error of the air crew, and one due to error in servicing.
On the positive side, the rate of accidents between 2017 and 2022—also known as the 13th Defence Plan period—had declined from a peak of 0.93 (2000-2005) to 0.27 (2017- 2022) and further to 0.20 (2020-2024), the report said.
The aircraft involved in the accidents were Su-30, ALH, MiG-23, Kiran, Mi-17, Hawk, Cheetah, Jaguar, MiG-21, MiG-27, MiG-29, An-32 and Mirage. Of these, the MiG21s met with the most accidents – nine.
The report put down several reasons for the crashes apart from human error, such as foreign object damage, technical defect, and bird strike. The accidents which did not fall under any of the above categories are still under investigation.
Incidentally, air crew were killed in at least 10 of these crashes, while in 17, the pilots managed to safely eject from the malfunctioning aircraft.
In order to make landing and take-off safe for aircraft, the IAF’s 52 operational air force bases could all undertake night landing, the report said, adding the CAT II lighting systems were installed in 48 airfields.
Udhampur had the old lighting system, while the other three operational IAF airfields (Leh, Thoise & Barrackpore) “could also conduct limited night operations using Mobile Airfield Lighting System (MAFLS)/Gooseneck flares”, the report said.
The circumstances of General Rawat’s death
The helicopter crash that killed General Rawat on 8 December, 2021 has been ruled a case of human error of the crew, according to the parliamentary panel report.
The then CDS, his wife and 12 others including his staff, pilots and crew were enroute to the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington from Sulur when their Mi-17V5 crashed in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu.
At the time, a tri-services inquiry was ordered by the IAF, headed by Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command Air Marshal Manvendra Singh.
In January 2022, the air force came out with preliminary findings which said the crash occurred due to “unexpected change” in the weather conditions which led to a spatial disorientation of the pilot resulting in Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT).
Spatial disorientation is the inability of a pilot to correctly interpret aircraft attitude, altitude or airspeed in relation to the Earth or other points of reference.
The US’ Federal Aviation Administration Safety defines CFIT “as an unintentional collision with terrain (the ground, a mountain, a body of water, or an obstacle) while an aircraft is under positive control”. It adds that most often, the pilot or crew is unaware of the looming disaster until it is too late, and it most commonly occurs in the approach or landing phase of a flight.
“The Court of Inquiry (CoI) has ruled out mechanical failure, sabotage or negligence as a cause of the accident. The accident was a result of entry into clouds due to unexpected change in weather conditions in the valley. This led to spatial disorientation of the pilot resulting in CFIT,” the IAF had said in a statement.
source : theprint