In early 1980s, IAF realized that it’s losing both of its aircraft as well as fighter pilots, it set up a committee under Air Marshal La Fontaine to study the problem. The committee submitted its report saying that these accidents are the results of the young pilots wanting to give high performance MiG-21 fighters. It was recommended to lay Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs) to bridge the gap between the two stages of performance, which remained a dream till decade, and only recently the plan again passed to sanction Hawk AJTs, which was nothing but a cruel joke towards those who faced demise in the crashes thought out the years.

IAF’s Mission Statement states that, “The mission of the Flight Safety organization of the IAF is to ensure operational capability by conserving human and material resources through prevention of aircraft accidents.” Now the vital questions comes, whether they have lived up to this statement? What are the real reasons for so many crashes? Whether they are taking any kind of measures to prevent such situations? Is IAF a crying wolf? Or facing shortage of Jets? Or they are busy blaming the young, inexperienced but enthusiastic fighter pilots?

But then also it is said that most of the crashes have been attributed to pilot incompetence and a lack of training and poor manufactured local parts by the Russians. After so many hundreds of MiGs had crashed, the IAF blames the manufacturer of a faulty fuel pump? The reasons for the crashes,showed by the IAF in 2005 are as followed:

1. Human error – 40 percent

2. Technical defects – 41 percent

3. Servicing – 2 percent

4. Bird hits – 9 percents

5. Unresolved – 6 percent

6. Others – 2 percent