Of 874 Russian made MiG-21 planes, almost half have perished in air crashes which also took the precious lives of some of the pilots flying them. We are not able to understand why all MiG-21 have not been grounded owing to their non-performance? If half of them have perished owing to some technical snag, obviously the deal with the Russian Union should have been revoked and Moscow asked to compensate the losses occurred on account of supply of defective machines. We are not in any position to comment on the technological aspect of the machine but we are concerned that more than four hundred machines have been lost during four decades in the past. Can such a weapon be dependable in case India is forced to fight an adversary on the battleground?
We offer condolence to the family of the young pilot on his tragic death in this air crash. He has not been the first victim of failing MiG-21s, nicknamed as flying coffins. Why have not the defence ministry diverted its attention to the recurring crashes and taken a decision to ground the remaining machines? The crash has happened shortly after the pilot took off from Awantipore Air Base. This may perhaps indicate that there is some inherent snag in the machine. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered and hopefully it will give its finding shortly. But we think this is not the first court of inquiry in such cases. The Air Force shall have to take a serious decision in this vital issued.
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