The Indian Air Force lost another Su-30MKI this afternoon, its third in less than three years. The aircraft took off from the Lohegaon air base at Pune at 12.45pm, and crashed shortly thereafter. Both pilots ejected safely. The IAF lost its first Su-30 in April 2009, in which both pilots ejected, though one succumbed to injuries sustained during ejection. The second crashed in November 2009, with both pilots punching out safely.
Photo / IAF UAV grab at Exercise Vayu Shakti
Tragic news.Big loss to IAF.mig 21 crashes are common and understoodable that they are obsolete.But Sukhoi s are the most modern aircraft in ur inventory.Media says it was not a engine failure.then was pilot error,who so ever responsible must be punished
This is really bad news . . First a mig 29 and her pilot. .and now a su 30. Thank god the pilot and wso ejected.
Dear Shiv
Just getting curious abt the Recent RFP by MOD for 66000 Assault rifles.Can you get some info refarding probabale vendors participating in the tender.Most importantantly is IWI tavor participating….tavors seems to be favourite of indian army.They look awesome and are lightweigt and erogonomic.Perhaps you can provide some info in your blog
Please comment on this new Tejas update at AW :
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/asd/2011/12/12/02.xml&headline=Indian Light Combat Aircraft Slipping A Year
must watch true face of isi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt-7wtHCoR8
Built/assembled by HAL or from Russia?
-sudheendra s
+40,+10,+140,+40,-2,+42,-1. +1?
The makings of the next flying coffin!
Random question 1- Why was the rd-33 not a part of the Bison upgrade especially when we license manufacture the same ?
Random question 2- Any confirmation if Su-30 fleet is to be upgraded with Irbis-E and 117s?
Random question 3- What do they call the Su-30 and MiG-21 in the IAF ? (like Mirage-2000/Vajra,An-32/Sutlej, Mi-8/17 Rana/Pratap)
How many jets we make in a year and how many we loose them in a year…if this thing goes on….the squadron will just decrease instead of increasing.
Another MiG 21 in making.
Anonymous @2:48 PM: B*****C***, C****** are you the f****** investigating agency on the crash? How the f*** did you come to the conclusion in less than 1 hour that it was pilot error???
Shiv: Why do you allow such baseless comments on the blog?
The same old story will repeat just like a Mig 21 or Mig 27 crash is daily phenomenon, SU 30 has started to fall from skies.
It is so much painful experience, when every few weeks I read a news of our fighter's crash. This aircrash is preceded with mig29 crash.
Anonymous@3:59 &Anonymous@3:15 Both are false flag pakis from pdf
buri khabar hai yeh kya ho raha hai?
What is the reason for the crash?
@4.18 PM….watch your language….Read the comment carefully before saying anything(If you are not an illeterate and can read).It says according to media reports.After the crash..all media channels reported that it was not an engine failure…Now shiv should block comments like u people who vomit even before eating..U seem to be more concerned abt what comments are written here rather then the tragic loss the IAF has suffered
IAF lost a lot of Russian combat aircrafts
the curse has just began
I am sick of u bloggers who sit home and just criticize the military.What u fail to realize that this ,indeed, is a dangerous profession where mistakes technical or human can be difference between life and death.SU-30s are one of the best aircrafts in world and there should be no doubt in it.As far as migs are concerned,yes they are old but were the aircraft ahead of there time when inducted in IAF.Just let IAF investigate this crash before drawing conclusion.The last tym around IAF found 'difficult positions of some critical switches' as cause of crash, which was address.EVEN F22 HAS CRASHED 3 TIMES SINCE ITS INDUCTION.SO NOW WILL ANYONE HERE SAY F22 IS USELESS????
If you go to any Ordnance factory (HAL. included) you will see same sorry picture. Unruly staffs, demoralized lower and middle management and incompetent upper management. (except few and they are running the show) It is a very sad state of affair. No patriotism, no commitment only self indulgence.
Sukhoi 30 MKIs. were built in Russia. So there were so far only two accidents. But now our HAL. Is started of making them. So there is a overall degradation of quality. So this type of accident is going to happen. Only the young pilots will lose their life. (Thanks God in this case they are safe. May God bless them?)
It is not that we do not know these problems. But still we will tolerate, till the next accident. Then again the same story will start.
Few suggestions for better management of HAL.
1) Ask for a reputed (Lockheed Martin or Boeing) partner. And sell 51 % of the share.
or
2) Handover HAL. to air force.
It is very pathetic that even Bangladesh or Pakistan is having a better safety record (accident rate / 10000 flying hours.) .
Parth ji. Do you statistics of crashed jets. For your kind info none of the HAL manufactured aircraft crashed till now. Reasons are to be kept secret so its not you people's fault. IF YOU CANNOT PARTICIPATE IN DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY PLEASE DO NOT ILLOGICALY CRITICIZE PEOPLE WHO ARE PUTTING THEIR EFFORT.
@shiv
Please tell will this one will be replaced like the previous 2 crashed
thanks
Joydep Ghosh
Any reports if this was made at HAL?
It was directly inducted from russia like previously crashed jets. For you also Parth
India should a new Multirole fighters to replace the Su-30MKI or maybe it need some upgraded?
Su-30MKI upgrades:
-IRBIS-E X-band Radar
-2x 117S 3D TVC turbofan engine
-Stealth Technology
-Plasma Stealth
-OLS-35 AIRST
-2x NIIP L-Band AESA
-New AAM:(RVV-SD, RVV-MD, & RVV-BD)
-1x SAP-14 & 1x SAP-518 Jamming Pod
-1x SAPSAN-E Targeting Pod
-Everything that Su-35 avionics and technology.
what is quite surprising there had been hardly any accidents(god forbid) involving M2K for the past 25 years so!!!! so it speaks volumes of the reliability of M2K!!! what is happening to SU30 mki a/c? in earlier crash it was reported that it was pilot error… How reliable is the FBW sytem? only black box recovery may reveal some clues!!!
Very tragic news in terms of the strategic loss for the nation. Thank God both the pilots are safe. My friend, a Su-30 pilot who flies in the same squad at Lohegaon, said that it was a FBW fault most probably as the preliminary reports are suggesting.
And a request to everyone. Please atleast stop mud-slinging over a tragic news!
Dear Anon @ 5:21 pm.
FYI
India is a democratic country and every citizens has right to speech. So i am using that right.
Our pilots this year crashed mig 29 ,21 ,27 one ajt test bed and several heli including dhruv and now this sukhoi 30mki didn't we achieve some outstanding record they will crash tejas once they get a hand in it its better to cancel mmrca our duds will crash them too and even if we had mmrca our govt don't use them against enemies so please save money in the recession times
Considering the sort of flying these birds do, their crash record is nothing short of remarkable!
$hit happens from time to time. Equipment fails. The occasional crash is inevitable. I'm just glad the pilots are safe.
Immediately we should stop making any defence deal with russia.
i am with "Anonymous @ 6.52pm…
proper training must…for that we should have latest advanced trainer jets…not always fault in vehicle…
"Nach na aye aangan tedha…"
No way… this is not going to be… the new flying… COFFIN???…
@Anon 6:26 PM
And the other stupid ones referring to the Mig 21.
Do you maintain any stats on the other aircraft lost around the world.
Did you know the F 16 , f 18 , Typhoon, Rafale, Gripen and even the F22 have had their share of crashes?
It's glamorous to make a comment than understand isn't it.
Feeling sorry is different, when you can't do anything about something , alleast get your facts right.
I don't think people here understand military crashes or fundamentals of air safety.
First of all no plane leaves the ground with any safety issue.
Secondly old planes do not lead to crashes. Every plane has maintenance carried out after every flight and after stipulated periods for various subsystems. Even if its a plane of WW II vintage if it is maintained then it can be airworthy.
People have some misconception that the IAF brass sends up young boys in MiG-21s to get them killed.
People may not be aware what actually causes the MiG-21 crashes.
1. "Pilot error". Flying combat aircraft is dangerous business and very much dependent on skill. Novice pilots in demanding aircraft often leads to crashes. Some aircraft are more demanding than others.For example the Harrier which has probably had the worst accident record not only in our forces but even the US Marines have lost quite a large number of men.
2."Statistics". The more you fly the more your chances of crashing. Hangar queens are generally very safe. Here again is another reason for the high rate of MiG-21 crashes.It forms the bulk of the fleet and hence as a type sees more air time than any other type. Again anybody wishing to verify can check the USAF crash/accident record. They fly more and they crash more. Simple cruel statistics.
3."Technical error". This is when something goes wrong with the aircraft or its systems. Reasons: a)Somebody leaves something in the air intake/ a technician installs a part upside down i.e. human error during build or maintenance.b)Spare parts that are not built to exact standards. c)Undetected faults such as structural failures, fatigue, corrosion etc.d)Design flaws are generally the least likely cause of crashes because they are generally weeded out during the test and evaluation phase.
While the loss today is sad it also underlines the extraordinary care the IAF has taken. Three crashes in fourteen years of operations for a combat type is an enviable record for any air force.
Glad the ejection seat works five of six lives saved.
Crashes are one of those things, shouldn't happen but they do.
Parthsarthi ji is absolutely right. However, I pray that pilot will not be held responsible for this…
Bhailog ,
Crash = bad news;Pilots safe = Great News
Air force kindly note to ensure a very quick enquiry and release of the conclusions to public. Any delay , babugiri shall only activate finger pointers
.
ACM kindly note to wake up . Mera bulbul so raha hai.
Basic trainer kub ayega ?
Media kindly note to shut the f*** up.
kudos to HAL…
cheap quality.
some countries hide their crashes but we do not.
Typical russi maal showing it's colours. Keep buying russi till your life becomes a phussi.
1500 crores of taxpayer money crashed and burned!!! At this rate we will lose more jets in peacetime than in war. All that Pakis and Chinkis have to do is wait!
http://bmpd.livejournal.com/128932.html
"The aircraft had an Indian registration number SB0 .. (Exact figures are unknown), indicating that it was built at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant and delivered to India from Russia."
Dear HAL bashing trolls, this airframe was imported from Irkutsk, and the crash happened due to FBW failure.
April 09 crash : Accidental turning off of FBW control during a DASI flight
November 09 crash : Problem with fuel supply
December 11: FBW failure.
Twinblade
We need 6o squadrons.
Anon @ 10.11 pm-
Thank you for the crisp explanation and bullet points. Hopefully our arm-chair experts will get it and stop criticising what they dont understand. It is sad that the a/c was lost but good that lives were not.
Giraten Hain Sahsawar Hi Maidaine Jung Men,
Wo tikhla kya giren ki jo ghutano ke bal chalen.
Carry on IAF
anonymous@4:o1,
I don't know what the IAF calls SU30 Mki , but lot of people cal it Rambha.
what we need is to urgently buy more aircraft. the 45squadrons isn't enough. I would like india to have 80-100 squadrons of top notch fighters .. SU30, LCA, MMRCA
we can afford it, if only we brought back the trillions of black money.
why not any new blog or update since last 2 days????? Shiv…
Look, we are always waiting for your new blogs…..so, plz write something everyday..& GIVE 2 BLOGS PER DAY…….
Putting things into persective. India actually has a very high sortee rate. And comparatively Russian airforce has a far higher crash rate then India. For most part the crashed are a resault of poor maintainance, rookie pilot and unforgiving Russian airframe design.
India has purchased an additional batch of 42 Russian Su-30MKI fighters :
http://www.ruaviation.com/news/2011/12/16/686/
To keep up with the attrition rate I guess …
"Meanwhile, Russia and India are negotiating on modernization of Su-30MKIs already operated by Indian air forces. President of Irkut Corporation, Alexey Fedorov, said in August 2011 that the modernization of these fighters will be carried out using technologies of the fifth-generation combat aircraft. Thus Su-30MKIs will be converted into “Super Sukhie”."
Please more information on this Super Sucker!
Situation has come …now we need to develop our own R&D. Existing setup and efforts of lazy goose in OUR R&D sector is not gonna work. Wake up and put at least some efforts.