IAF aircraft crash: How safe are India's ageing Jaguar fighter jets? Experts explain

In the wake of the crash of a Jaguar fighter jet near Churu in Rajasthan, in which two pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were killed, aviation experts claimed that the twin-engine jet is "considered very safe."

 

The Jaguar fighter jet crash on Wednesday was the third such incident in the past six months. 

 

Investigations into previous crashes involving the ageing Jaguar fleet, which was first inducted into the Indian Air Force in 1979, have often pointed to technical failures, particularly engine issues.

 

However, according to news agency PTI, experts are of the opinion that Jaguar, a deep penetration strike bomber, is "very safe."

 

Former IAF officers, pilots and aviation experts pointed out that  Jaguar jets have been a key asset of the IAF for more than four decades.

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"A Jaguar is a strike bomber aircraft. Its purpose is air-to-ground strike, it is a deep penetration strike bomber. And, it is a twin-engine aircraft, and thus very safe," a senior IAF official told the news agency, requesting anonymity.

 

Asserting that the fighter jet is safe, he said, "If something goes down with one engine, there is another engine to take care of it and ensure landing. So, something would have gone wrong (on Wednesday), and the court of inquiry will tell."

 

Following the accident, the Indian Air Force said a court of inquiry has been constituted to ascertain the cause of the crash.

 

Jaguar aircraft are "absolutely fly-worthy" and they are used for operations, the senior official said.

 

"All aircraft are safe and airworthy, there is no aircraft which takes off or leaves the ground and not airworthy. It cannot happen. There is a set of rules, a set of engineers, a set of technicians which together decide its airworthiness. There is no question of its being not safe or not airworthy, before it goes for...," the officer has been quoted as saying.

 

Any aircraft that goes up is "fully serviceable and airworthy", said the official, adding that "things can go wrong, we will find it in the court of inquiry".

 

"Jaguar, like other aircraft, has crashed. I would not call it very dangerous,” Wing Commander Praful Bakshi (Retd) was quoted as saying to a TV channel following the crash of the aircraft in April.

 

Defence