30 IAF pilots killed in 4 years

Thirty Indian Air Force pilots have lost their lives in accidents since 1994-95, Minister of State for Defence N V N Somu told the Lok Sabha on Monday. The IAF also lost 78 aircraft in these mishaps.

The number of aircraft lost in crashes during 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, the minister revealed, are 25, 28, 20 and five respectively, costing the IAF approximately Rs 6.54 billion (excluding the loss of aircraft in two recent accidents).

The main cause of these crashes are human error, technical defects and bird-hits. However, there has been no incident of any aircraft being shot down or grounded.

Somu said air support and attack patterns have been reviewed in order to contain air accidents. Steps have also been taken by the ministry of agriculture and the ministry of urban affairs and employment and the state governments concerned for modernisation of slaughter houses/ carcass utilisation centres and for sanitisation of areas around airfields to reduce bird activities.

The committee on fighter aircraft accidents, constituted under the chairmanship of the defence minister's scientific advisor, Dr Abdul Kalam, is likely to submit its report shortly. The committee will analyse the causes of these accidents and suggest remedial measures to avoid their recurrence.

UNI