Informing the House on the total number of crashes in the IAF, Antony said, "During the last three years, 2008-09 to 2010-11, 30 fighter aircraft and 10 helicopters of IAF have crashed."
Defence Minister AK Antony today contradicted Air Chief Marshal (ACM) NAK Browne when he said inexperience of pilots was not "one of the major reasons" for air crashes in which the IAF has lost 30 fighter planes and 10 helicopters in last three years.
In written reply to a question on crashes of IAF aircraft in the Lok Sabha, the Defence Minister said, "The inexperience of pilots is not one of the major reasons for aircraft accidents in the IAF."
He was asked whether the inexperience of pilots has been one of the major reasons for crashes as reported recently.
Informing the House on the total number of crashes in the IAF, Antony said, "During the last three years, 2008-09 to 2010-11, 30 fighter aircraft and 10 helicopters of IAF have crashed."
He told the House that these crashes include 16 fighter aircraft of the MiG-21 series.
Underlining that all aircraft accidents in IAF are thoroughly investigated by a Court of Inquiry (Col) to ascertain their cause, he said, "Main causes for the above accidents were Human Error (HE) and Technical Defect (TD)."
However, while interacting with reporters on the sidelines of Air Force Day Parade on October 8, IAF Chief Browne had said the incidents of MiG crashes had taken place because of the inexperience of pilots.
"Unfortunately except for one case, the other cases point towards inexperience of young pilots who were not been able to handle the landing and approach (of the aircraft)," Browne had said.
Meanwhile, on the number of deaths which have taken place due to these air crashes, Antony today said, "26 defence personnel including 13 pilots have lost their lives. In addition, six civilians have also lost their lives," he said.
Antony said a multi-disciplined study team has been formed by the IAF to review the reasons for such crashes and steps have been taken by the government to train pilots to prevent accidents due to human error.
Some of the measures to improve training of pilots include use of simulators to practise procedures and emergency actions, focused and realistic training with additional emphasis on the critical aspects of mission, introduction of Crew Resource Management and Operational Risk Management.
On phasing out the MiG-21 aircraft, he said, "Decision to phase out aircraft is taken on basis of various factors including their residual life and operational considerations and is reviewed by the government from time to time. This is a continuous process."
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