Squadron Leader Meet Kumar (Photo source: Indian Air Force)

NEW DELHI: “When you are flying this aircraft, the MiG-21, you feel none other than God. The bond we share, I and the machine, is very rare ... more than what I share with my wife,” said Squadron Leader Meet Kumar , in an IAF promotional video filmed not too long ago.

On Wednesday, Kumar was killed when his MiG-21 fighter crashed in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. The MiG-21, which had taken off on a routine sortie from the Pathankot airbase at about 12.20 pm, apparently developed some technical snag and crashed near Mehra Palli village under the Jawali police station area at 1.21pm.

“The pilot sustained fatal injuries during the accident. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to establish the exact cause of the accident,” said the IAF spokesperson.

The Indian armed forces have lost as many as 31 aircraft and helicopters in crashes, which have claimed 44 lives, just since 2015-2016. If figures from 2011 onwards are taken into account, then IAF, Army and Navy have recorded accidents of over 75 aircraft and helicopters, which have killed over 80 people, underlying the unusually high crash rate in the country’s military aviation arena.

The IAF is forced to fly the virtually obsolete MiG-21s due to huge delays in the indigenous Tejas fighter, which was first approved in 1983 to replace the ageing MiG-21s but is still not combat-ready, amid the rapidly-dwindling number of fighters in its combat fleet.

IAF is down to just 31 fighter squadrons (each with 18 jets) when at least 42 are required to tackle the “collusive threat” from China and Pakistan. Consequently, the force will continue with its 10 squadrons of MiG-21s and MiG-27s till 2024.

The single-engine MiG-21 fighters, which were the first supersonic jets to be flown by IAF jets, may have performed a stellar role even since their induction began in 1963, being in the forefront of air operations during the 1965 and 1971 wars, but their high crash rate has seriously dented their track-record over the years.

The highly-demanding MiG-21s, which have several design limitations due to their 1960s and 1970s vintage, for instance, have the highest landing and take-off speed in the world at 340 kmph. “This aircraft is known for a high landing speed. So, every landing is different. It’s a beautiful machine ... I spend more time with it than my wife,” Kumar had said, in the video.



In Video: MiG-21 claims life of fighter pilot who once called it a 'beautiful machine'