Seven pilots killed in 12 MiG-21 crashes in three years

New Delhi, May 17 (UNI) The IAF lost 12 MiG-21 during the last three financial years from 2003-04 to 2005-06, claiming 13 lives, including seven pilots, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee also said the government had planned to phase out the Russian MiG-25 by 2006-07 due to expiry of 'Calendar Life (CL)/Total Technical Life (TTL) of the aircraft.

MiG-21 aircraft will be phased out from the IAF after expiry of its CL/TTL, the Minister said.

He said five of the MiG-21 accidents occurred due to human error on the part of the crew, four happened because of technial snags and two were due to human error on the part of servicing personnel at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

One mishap was caused by bird hit.

''The IAF has identified technical defect and human error as the two main causes for the accidents,'' he said.

Mr Mukherjee said the cost of a MiG-21 aircraft varied between Rs 1.5 crore (for the oldest version) and Rs 14.5 crore (the latest version).

About the preventive measures, he said constant interaction was taking taking place between HAL and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) of countries concerned to overcome technical defects of the aircraft.

''Measures to enhance the quality of training to improve the skill levels, ability to exercise sound judgement and situational awareness of pilots are being pursued,'' he said.

Replying to another query, Mr Mukherjee said two senior pilots of IAF's acrobatic team, Surya Kiran, were killed during a practice mission in Karnataka on March 18 this year because of ''human error''.

''The pilots were carrying out a three-aircraft formation aerobatic practice mission. During one of the manoeuvres, the pilots lost control of the aircraft and it crashed. The cause of the accident hs been established as human error on the part of the air crew,'' he said.

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