Two front line IAF fighters crashed after a mid-air collision over Morena district of Madhya Pradesh, killing a Wing Commander while two other pilots managed to eject safely.
When the disaster happened, the unfortunate Sukhoi-30MKI and Mirage-2000 aircraft were practising combat manoeuvres, including bombing sorties, as part of the curriculum of the IAF's "Top Gun" school, Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE), at Gwalior.
The Mirage-2000 pilot, Wing Commander Hanumanth Rao Sarathi, who as an instructor at TACDE was tasked to train the cream of younger fighter pilots in advanced air combat skills, lost his life in the mishap.
The twin-seat Sukhoi-30MKI's two Squadron Leader pilots, who both suffered minor injuries after ejecting from their aircraft, have been taken to a military hospital. Even though flying machines are pushed to their absolute limits during military aviation, the Indian armed services have had an unusually high crash rate over the years.
For instance, in just the past five years, mishaps involving aircraft and helicopters have claimed the lives of almost 50 military people. In order to determine the precise reason for the accident, the IAF has mandated a court of inquiry.
Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari briefed defence minister Rajnath Singh about the details. “We stand by Wing Commander Sarathi’s family in this difficult hour,” Singh said. Both the fighters had taken off from the Gwalior airbase, along with other aircraft, for the routine operational flying training mission. “While it was not a head-on collision, the wings of the two jets seemed to have clipped each other,” an official said.
