Five years, 34 MiG crashes, 11 lives lost

NEW DELHI: As many as 34 MiG fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force have crashed in the last five years and six pilots and five civilians were killed in these accidents, the Parliament was informed today.

From 2007-08 to March 2013, a total of 34 MiG fighter aircraft were crashed, Defence Minister A K Antony told Rajya Sabha in a written reply to a query.

"Technical defects and human errors were the two main reasons of the accidents," he said, adding that six pilots and five civilians were killed in the mishaps.

Every IAF aircraft accident is thoroughly investigated by a court of inquiry (Col) to ascertain its cause of accident. Remedial measures are taken to prevent their recurrence in future, the minister said.

"IAF has taken various measures relating to invigoration of aviation safety organisation, analytical studies and quality audits of the aircraft fleets to identify vulnerable area and institute remedial measures to reduce aircraft accidents, including establishment of an Ornithology cell for bird surveys at flying bases," Antony said.

In reply to a query over fighter helicopters, he said, "There is no dispute between Army and IAF for control of fighter helicopters. Keeping in view the operational requirements, the government has decided that ownership of future inductions of attack helicopters will be vested with the Army."