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The MiG Question: ‘Backbone’ to ‘Flying Coffins’, How the Fighter Aircraft Veered Towards Danger

May 8, 2023
Bharat Times English News

Policemen and locals gather at the site of the crash of a MiG-21 trainer jet near Gwalior airbase on September 25, 2019. (PTI)

Policemen and locals gather at the site of the crash of a MiG-21 trainer jet near Gwalior airbase on September 25, 2019. (PTI)

Over the past six decades, more than 400 MiG-21s have been involved in accidents that have claimed the lives of nearly 200 pilots.

A MiG-21 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed during a routine training sortie in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district on Monday, killing at least three civilians. The Indian Air Force (IAF) said in a statement that the pilot of the aircraft suffered minor injuries.

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The IAF said, “A MiG-21 aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed near Suratgarh during a routine training sortie this morning. The pilot ejected safely, sustaining minor injuries. An investigation has been set up to ascertain the cause of the accident.”

Called “flying coffins” because of their history of accidents, the IAF is replacing the MiG-21 fighter jets with more capable aircraft such as the Su-30 and the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

India got its first MiG-21 in 1963

  • The MiG-21 was designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau of the erstwhile Soviet Union and is India’s longest-lived fighter aircraft.
  • It is a Soviet-era single-engine multirole fighter and ground attack aircraft and once formed the backbone of the Indian Air Force fleet.

  • India received its first MiG-21 in 1963 and the 874 variant of the supersonic fighter was added to enhance the country’s combat capability.
  • The MiG-21 Bison, an upgraded version of the MiG-21bis, was first inducted into service in 1976. According to several reports, the MiG-21 had completed its retirement period in the mid-1990s.
  • The aircraft has been the backbone for a long time and has been famous for thwarting Pakistan’s air strike on February 27, 2019.
  • In 2012, former Defense Minister AK Antony told Parliament that more than half of the 872 MiGs bought from Russia had crashed, killing more than 200 people, including 171 pilots, 39 civilians and eight other service people. were involved, had lost their lives.

Accidents since 2020

Over the past six decades, the MiG-21 has been involved in more than 400 accidents, claiming the lives of nearly 200 pilots.

2022

  1. July 28: A MiG-21 Bison aircraft killed two pilots during a training sortie in Barmer, Rajasthan.
  2. October 28: A MiG-29K fighter aircraft of the Indian Navy crashed off the Goa coast on Wednesday morning following a technical glitch. The pilot ejected safely.

2021

  1. January 5: MiG-21 Bison aircraft crashed during landing in Suratgarh, Rajasthan.
  2. March 17: Air Force Group Captain A Gupta was killed when his MiG-21 crashed during take-off.
  3. May 20: Squadron Leader Abhinav Chaudhary died in a MiG-21 crash in Moga, Punjab.

  4. August 25: MiG-21 Bison fighter aircraft crashed during training in Barmer.
  5. December 24: Wing Commander Harshit Sinha died in the MiG-21 crash in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. https://twitter.com/IAF_MCC/status/1474428484076269569?lang=en

2020

  1. February 23: A MiG-29K aircraft of the Indian Navy crashed while on a routine sortie in Goa.
  2. May 8: A MiG-29 of the Indian Air Force crashed during a training mission in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district.
  3. November 26: A MiG-29K trainer aircraft crashed in the Arabian Sea.

step by step

On September 30, 2022, The illustrious MiG-21 squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF), which came into limelight for creating a historic record in the 2019 war with Pakistan, retired after a remarkable journey of 38 years.

Read this also | opinion | MiG-21 aircraft still fly in India. Why? ask congress

As part of the squadron, in February 2019, Wing Commander (now Group Captain) Abhinandan Varthaman Awarded the Vir Chakra for shooting down a Pakistani F-16 aircraft during a dogfight along the Line of Control.

Squadrons of aircraft left in service and will be phased out year 2025,

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