The crash of a newly upgraded Mirage-2000 trainer aircraft, which killed two test pilots of the Indian Air Force, is the newest pain point between the air force and public sector undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
The twin-seat Mirage-2000 that took off from the HAL airport on February 1 was being piloted by two officers from the IAF’s Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) as part of acceptance sorties to evaluate the aircraft’s ability to be inducted into service.
One version of what happened next was that the aircraft nose-dived onto the runway even before its undercarriage could be retracted. The jet slid along on its twin drop tanks, each holding 1,700 litres of fuel, tearing through arrester barriers meant to restrain aircraft and an inner boundary wall. Both Squadron Leader Samir Abrol and his co-pilot, Squadron Leader Siddhartha Negi, ejected safely, but unfortunately died in injuries sustained when they fell back onto the blazing wreckage.
Anguished veterans saw the horrific crash as another example of PSU callousness. ‘The military has for decades flown poor-quality HAL machines and often paid with young lives but not reckoning for the HAL management. Time to focus on the leadership and directors of this giant PSU,’ former navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash tweeted a day after the crash.
Denne historien er fra February 18, 2019-utgaven av India Today.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra February 18, 2019-utgaven av India Today.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Killer Stress
Unhealthy work practices in Indian companies are taking a toll on employees, triggering health issues and sometimes even death
Shuttle Star
Ashwini Ponnappa was the only Indian to compete in the inaugural edition of BDMNTN-XL, a new international badminton tourney with a new format, held in Indonesia
There's No Planet B
All Living Things-Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) returns with 72 films to be screened across multiple locations from Nov. 22 to Dec. 8
AMPED UP AND UNPLUGGED
THE MAHINDRA INDEPENDENCE ROCK FESTIVAL PROMISES AN INTERESTING LINE-UP OF OLD AND NEW ACTS, CEMENTING ITS REPUTATION AS THE 'WOODSTOCK OF INDIA'
A Musical Marriage
Faezeh Jalali has returned to the Prithvi Theatre Festival with Runaway Brides, a hilarious musical about Indian weddings
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
Nikhil Advani’s adaptation of Freedom at Midnight details our tumultuous transition to an independent nation
Family Saga
RAMONA SEN's The Lady on the Horse doesn't lose its pace while narrating the story of five generations of a family in Calcutta
THE ETERNAL MOTHER
Prayaag Akbar's new novel delves into the complexities of contemporary India
TURNING A NEW LEAF
Since the turn of the century, we have lost hundreds of thousands of trees. Many had stood for centuries, weathering storms, wars, droughts and famines.
INDIA'S BEATING GREEN HEART
Ramachandra Guha's new book-Speaking with Nature-is a chronicle of homegrown environmentalism that speaks to the world
