29/08/11 By Greg Waldron SOURCE:Flight International
The Indian air force has lost 46 fighter aircraft in crashes in the last six years, and has initiated several programmes to improve safety.
The worst year for fighter crashes was 2009, when the country lost 10 aircraft. Eight incidents were recorded in 2006 and in 2008, while six aircraft were lost each in 2005, 2006 and 2010.
Defence minister A K Antony provided the statistics in response to a parliamentary enquiry.
The aircraft involved in the crashes were Mikoyan MiG-21s, Sepecat/Hindustan Aeronautics Jaguars and Sukhoi Su-30MKIs.
Antony said a court of enquiry is formed for each accident to ascertain the causes of and recommend remedial measures.
"Apart from this, the Indian air force has taken various measures relating to the invigoration of aviation safety organisation, streamlining of the accident/incident reporting procedure and audits of the aircraft fleets to identify remedial measures to reduce accidents," he said.
Other measures include efforts to keep birds away from air bases and the enhanced use of simulators during training.
The measures appear to be paying off; so far this year as of 17 August, the air force had lost only two fighters.
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