Another Sukhoi-30MKI crashes, Pilots safe, planes grounded

An IAF Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft crashed near Pokhran firing ranges in Rajasthan on Monday, while on a routine sortie. "One SU-30 MKI aircraft of the IAF crashed south-west of Pokhran" at around 5.30 pm, the air force said in a statement. "The aircraft had taken off from the Jodhpur air base on a routine training sortie [around 4.55 pm]. The pilot and the navigator ejected safely," it said.

The air force said there was "no reported damage to civil life or property". The pilots of the aircraft Wg Cdr Shrivastav and his navigator bailed out safely and a court of enquiry had been ordered to ascertain the cause of crash. This is the second crash involving the most advanced combat aircraft India possesses. The first crash occurred in May this year, killing Wing Commander P.S. Narah whose parachute did not open. The other pilot Wing Commander S. V. Munje survived the crash.

India at present operates 60 of these air superiority, 4.5 generation fighters in three of its 33.5 squadrons. While 20 Squadron ‘ Lightnings’ and 30 Squadron ‘Rhinos’ are based in Pune, the 24 Squadron ‘Hawks’ are located in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. The aircraft had made a mark and had gained a reputation for itself while participating in the prestigious ‘Red Flag’ air exercise of the NATO in Nellis air base of the US Air Force in the later part of 2008.

The IAF has also lost a Kiran MkII trainer aircraft of the Surya Kiran Aerobatics Team, three MiG-27s, three MiG-21s, a HPT-32 trainer aircraft, an AN-32 transport aircraft, a Mi-8 and a Mi-17 helicopters this year. The contract to buy 50 Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft was inked in 1996 in a US$ 1.6 billion deal. In 2000, another agreement was signed allowing the license production of 140 Su-30MKIs in HAL in India. The deal combined license production with full technology transfer and hence was called a 'Deep License'. In 2007, the IAF spent US$700 million to upgrade its remaining 10 Su-30Ks and 8 SU-30MKs to MKI Std variant and signed a contract for the supply of 40 additional MKIs with Russia.