Hyderabad: From 2015 to date, the Indian Air Force has lost 33 aircraft to accidents, the latest being the workhorse, AN-32, that crashed in Arunachal Pradesh. The aircraft lost include fighters, transporters, helicopters and trainers.
The current quantum of provisional loss is approximately Rs 524.64 crore in respect to 11 crash cases.
The Union home ministry in a response to a question raised by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi stated that besides the AN-32 transporter that crashed in Arunachal Pradesh, another AN-32 went missing in July 2016 while flying over the Bay of Bengal.
Another recent accident reported in the year 2019 was the crash of a Mi-17 helicopter near Budgam. The IAF lost six service personnel and one civilian in the crash.
It is significant to note that among the fighter aircraft, the IAF just this year has lost a MiG-21Bison, two Hawks of the Suryakiran team, a Mirage, a MiG-27 and a 1 Mi-17V5 aircraft. And, importantly, senior flying officers.
Besides, there was the loss of the MiG-21 flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan who shot down a Pakistani F-16 in the post-Balakote aerial action.
Retired Air Commodore Udoy Narayan Ganguly, who was an expert member in the IAF court of enquiries, says that Air Forces around the world face such occupational hazards. “An aircraft crash could be due to man, machine or environment, indeed all three can encounter danger. Crashes may be due to machine failure, harsh environment. In fact, the IAF has had less number of crashes compared to other air forces, but that is no consolation. A life lost can never come back. But the IAF always aims at zero fatal accidents.”
A court of inquiry is set up to investigate every aircraft accident and remedial measures are undertaken accordingly to avoid such accidents in future, said an expert.
Asaduddin Owaisi slams govt for neglect
The Union home ministry in response to Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s question regarding the government's plans for the AN-32 aircraft clarified that the IAF workhorse will be upgraded with better avionics and airframe reinforcement and not phased out, owing to its useful residual life.
This answer triggered a thread of tweets by the MP who put out some research on Indian security, the aircrafts purchased, and more.
“We must hold both the UPA & NDA responsible for the loss of these 13 lives. AN-32 has a shelf life of 25 years, we'd acquired 99 AN32s in 1984. Back In 1999, India contracted with Ukraine to upgrade the 54 out of 99 aircraft, while 45 were just forgotten about. These 45 aircraft were meant to be upgraded by 2013, however, it hasn't happened so far. A total of four AN-32s have crashed between 1999-2019. A total of 76 lives lost due to deliberate neglect by the government. Had the AN-32 been upgraded, would we have lost these lives?” the parliamentarian said on Twitter.
As per the Global Index report, India happens to be among those countries that don’t spend much on defence. The Parliamentarian raised the same point. “If we don’t spend enough resources on upgrading our assets & safety, we’ll continue to lose capable & dedicated pilots and crew members to sheer incompetence & neglect. It’s the responsibility of those in power.”
According to Mr Owaisi’s research, India’s current defence expenditure is below the defence expenditure incurred during the 1962 war. The defence budget in India hovers around 1.5 per cent, while experts have prescribed the optimal expenditure to be 2 per cent.
At a time when the country is debating on growing nationalism as pointed out by West Bengal MP Mahua Moitra in her maiden speech in the parliament on Tuesday, Mr Asaduddin Owaisi while connecting the dots between defence and nationalism said, "The evidence of our nationalism lies in how we treat our serving men & women. Prime Minister @PMOIndia remembers that "humare jawaan seema par ladd rahe hai" pretty much all the time except when it actually matters."
