Flight Safety

IAF "Mishaps" in 2009
[1]
Date: January 21
Aircraft: Kiran Mk-II
Deaths: 1 Pilot [Wing Commander R.S. Dhaliwal]
Damage to property: None
Cause: N/A
Comments: The aircraft crashed at 8.35 a.m. shortly after it took off from the Bidar Air Force Station (about 750km from here), on a regular training sortie. The pilot died instantaneously when the jet crashed. It caught fire soon after it got airborne from the air base. The aircraft belonged to the Suryakiran Aerobatic team of the IAF.
[2]
Date: January 21
Aircraft: Unidentified UAV
Deaths: None
Damage to property: None
Cause: N/A
Comments: The UAV crashed in the state of West Bengal.
[3]
Date: April 30
Aircraft: Sukhoi Su-30 MKI
Death: 1 Pilot [Wing Commander P S Nara]
Damage to property: None
Cause: Pilot error, defects in rear ejection seat.
Comments: This is the first crash of a SU-30MKI, which was inducted into the IAF in 1997. The aircraft was on a routine training mission when it crashed 70 kms southeast of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
[4]
Date: May 15
Aircraft: MiG 27
Death: None, 7 injured including one 2 year old.
Damage to property: The aircraft crashed on a under construction building.
Cause: N/A
Comments:The MiG-27 pilot, a squadron leader, ejected out of the cockpit safely just before the aircraft crashed between 8.10 hours and 8.20 hours in Konkani village in Luni, near Jodhpur, while on a routine sortie.
[5]
Date: May 27
Aircraft: MiG 21 Bison
Death: None
Damage to Property: None
Cause: N/A
Comments: The war plane, which had taken off for a routine sortie in the forenoon from the Jodhpur airbase, crashed on a barren stretch land in Luni village in Mordijoshyan, near Jodhpur.
[6]
Date: June 9
Aircraft: An 32
Deaths: 13 personnels dead including high ranking officers.
Damage to property: None
Cause: N/A
Comments: An Indian air force Antonov An-32 transport has been reported missing in the country's northern Arunachal Pradesh state and is believed to have crashed in the mountainous region.
The aircraft, which is reported to have 13 people on board, was on its way to Jorhat in Assam state from the Mechuka air strip in West Siang, close to the Indo-Chinese border.
It went missing around 14:00 Indian time and air force helicopters were sent to comb the area and search for the aircraft. The wreckage was later found.
[7]
Date: June 18
Aircraft: MiG-21 Type 77
Deaths: None
Cause: Engine Flame out
Comments: The type-77 aircraft, which took off from the Chabua airbase around 1400 hrs crashed immediately after take off near the airbase after it experienced a technical snag.The aircraft, sources said, was on a training sortie when the mishap occurred, the sources said.“The pilot reported the technical error to the airbase and later jettisoned the aircraft,” an IAF source added.
[8]
Date: July 31
Aircraft: HPT-32
Deaths: 2 Pilots
Cause: Mechanecial Failure
Comments: The mishap occurred at about 9.45am when the HPT-32 training aircraft belonging to Air Force Academy Dundigal (located on the city's outskirts) crashed in an open ground at Annaram village of Jinnaram Mandal near the academy.Two instructors Ritin Jain and Chaturvedi were killed on the spot, the police officer said adding "the exact cause of the crash was not known yet."
[9]
Date: September 10
Aircraft: MiG-21 Type 90
Deaths: 1 Pilot - Flt Lt Manu Akhouri aged 23
Cause: N/A
Comments:Eyewitnesses said the pilot tried to eject from the aircraft but before his parachute could open, there was a big blast and the MiG blew up. Those who saw the horror said the deceased had saved many civilians by paying with his life. PRO Flt Lt Priya Jyoti, describing the aircraft as Type 90, said a court of inquiry had been ordered. Occurring about 15 km from Bhisiana, the accident was believed to have killed the trained test pilot from Jharkhand on spot, with his badly mutilated body found lying in a paddy field near Bhaliana village on Muktsar-Bathinda road. “The aircraft was about to fall on a house in Bhaliana but the pilot succeeded in proceeding towards a road, where again he prevented the jet from hitting a petrol pump before trying to eject,” said Thana. The blast was apparently so forceful that debris scattered in an area
of 100m. Another eyewitness Jang Singh added, “Seconds before the crash, the aircraft was very close to hitting a private bus on Muktsar-Bathinda road but it was the skill of the deceased which saved many lives.”
[10]
Date:October 23
Aircraft: MiG-21
Deaths: None
Cause: N/A
Comments:MiG 27 aircraft of IAF crashed near New Jalpaiguri about 16 Kms West of Hashimara airbase at about 1310 hrs. The Pilot, who got airborne for a routine flying training sortie, ejected safely.
[11]
Date: November 30
Aircaft: Sukhoi-30MKI
Deaths: None, both Pilots ejected to safety
Cause: Engine fire, Engine caught fire due to failure of fuel system.
Comments: The aircraft crashed in Rajasthan at around 4.30-4.45pm.The ill-fated aircraft was identified as a HAL built aircraft meaning it was realtively new.

This year has been very bad for the IAF, they have lost 1 aircraft per month !!!! This is extremely high rate of attrition, looks like we are back to 90's.