The plane had gone missing 40 minutes after starting for the routine training and the pilots could not eject before it crashed 60 km from the base, near the Assam-Arunachal border.
Just two days ahead of the 85th Indian Airforce Day, on October 6, an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft crashed in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, killing seven personnel. The unfortunate mishap has brought the focus on a similar crash that took place in the same region earlier, wherein the martyrs's families are yet to find any closure.
On May 23, a Sukhoi-30 fighter jet with two pilots aboard went missing soon after taking off from the Tezpur Airforce station. The plane had gone missing 40 minutes after starting for the routine training and the pilots could not eject before it crashed 60 km from the base, near the Assam-Arunachal border.
Four months have passed but the families of deceased Squadron Leader Divesh Pankaj and Flight Lieutenant S Achudev are yet to make peace with the tragedy, which has been compounded by the fact that the mortal remains of the pilots were never found.
Talking to DNA, Achudev's father Sahadevan, a retired ISRO scientist, said: "We have been told the scenario and the nature of the incident, and how things must have happened. But as a father, my heart refuses to believe these stories and I cannot accept these answers."
"I have been told that a court of inquiry is going on and it is a classified document and will not be revealed to me. Air Marshal S Harpal Singh, Director General (Inspection and Safety), did brief me but my heart wants more answers, " he added.
Amid all this, the two families did not even get to see their sons' bodies. The cremation rituals for both of them were performed without the bodies. A rescue team comprising eight Army and four Airforce commanders searched for four days before they spotted the plane's wreckage, a charred shoe belonging to Divyesh, and Achudev's wallet, on May 26.
"We have written to everyone, from Commanding Officer, Tezpur Base AOC (Air Officer Commanding), Ministry of Defence, and even on the Prime Minister's grievance portal, but have not heard anything from anywhere," said Chetan Pankaj, brother of Divesh Pankaj.
"We have a letter with 15 questions about how this happened, whether it was a technical fault or human error, and why the court of inquiry was taking so long. We even filed an RTI application, which was forwarded to the Airforce HQ. We are yet to get an answer," he rued.
Meanwhile, another court of inquiry has been ordered into the Friday Mi-17 V5 crash.An IAF spokesperson said: "Court of inquiries take time as they involve details from several stakeholders, including manufacturers. These are classified documents, meant only for the Airforce. Families have been properly briefed on the circumstances that led to these mishappenings, but nothing other than that can be shared."
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