Tejas crash aftermath
NEW DELHI: India has sent an IAF officer to Dubai to take part in the inquiry to be conducted by the aviation authorities there into the Tejas fighter’s crash Friday, with the ill-fated jet’s flight data recorder (FDR) or “black box” expected to provide key information about the cause of the accident.The IAF officer will be “a member in attendance” at the inquiry, as per protocol, into the mishap that saw the single-engine Tejas Mark-1 jet crash into the ground after failing to recover from a “negative G-turn” manoeuvre during a low-level aerobatic display at the Dubai Airshow.The mortal remains of the pilot, Wing Commander Namansh Syal (37), were brought back to Sulur in Tamil Nadu on an IAF C-130J aircraft on Saturday night. “A dedicated fighter pilot and thorough professional, Wing Commander Syal served the nation with unwavering commitment, exceptional skill and an unyielding sense of duty,” IAF said.The IAF has not yet grounded its Tejas Mark-1 fighters in the ’45 Flying Daggers’ Squadron at Sulur and ’18 Flying Bullets’ Squadron at Naliya for safety technical checks. “The FDR, which would have recorded all critical flight parameters of the Tejas, such as speed, altitude, control inputs and other such things, will be crucial for reconstructing the sequence of events leading to the accident,” an officer said. While the exact reason for the crash will be determined by the inquiry, the pilot could have suffered a “blackout” or spatial disorientation due to “negative G-forces”, or there could have been a sudden loss of engine power or control malfunction in the fighter, as was earlier reported by TOI.”Pilots can suffer G-LOC or gravity induced temporary loss of consciousness during sharp turns or dives in supersonic fighters. That is why fighter pilots wear pressurised G-suits to counter the effects of gravity,” another officer said. The 13.5-tonne multirole Tejas, manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics and powered by American GE-F404 turbofan engine, has had a stellar flight safety record ever since its first prototype took to the skies in Jan 2001, even as IAF wants a fighter with much better capabilities.Since IAF raised its first Tejas Mark-1 squadron at Sulur in July 2016, the crash at Dubai was only the second after a jet went down near Jaisalmer on Mar 12 last year. While the IAF court of inquiry report into that crash has not been declassified, the cause is attributed to an engine snag. While IAF has inducted 38 Tejas Mark-1 jets, the deliveries of 83 “improved” Tejas Mark-1A fighters contracted in Feb 2021 for Rs 46,898 crore will begin only in March next year, after a long delay. A Rs 66,500 crore contract for another 97 Mark-1A jets was inked with HAL in Sept this year.
