The reasons for the naval helicopter crash at the Hyderabad air show on Wednesday will require a proper probe for the simple reason that a similar failure has to be prevented in the future. This is essential for the navy as well as for the other services. But there are general issues at stake which need looking into.
The first of them is whether air shows should be allowed to be held in the middle of dense urban habitations. Common sense would have dictated that such shows should be held on the outskirts. This was not the case in Hyderabad. It was held at the old airport of Begumpet which is situated in the middle of the city.
There is need for a serious rethink here. The enthusiasm of state government authorities to host events like the air show in order to be in the spotlight is so overriding that they tend to overlook the necessary precautions that need to be taken. This is the kind of lapse that cannot be allowed.
The second issue at stake is about the quality of the trainer jet Kiran MK-II itself. The probe which is sure to follow will probably give an indication of what went wrong, whether it was a structural deficiency in the plane itself or whether it had something to do with pilot error. This is not for pinpointing blame as much as to evolve and implement the necessary design and training correctives.
Bangalore-based Hindustan Aeronautic Limited (HAL) will need to look at the design and technical aspects of the jet. This should not give raise to bickering about indigenous research and development which is generally the case when a question of this kind comes up. The question cannot be simplified into building our own aircraft or of importing apparently betters ones. The HAL will have to be goaded into delivering better stuff. A rigorous evaluation of Kiran Mark-II is due and it would be disastrous to shy away from it because the implications are huge.
What the country needs is a culture of criticism which is absolutely needed to achieve technological excellence. It will not be enough to blame it all on acrobatic manoeuvres. As a former air chief marshal had rightly commented difficult sorties are carried out to keep the man and machine fighting fit. How this is to be achieved will have to remain top priority. India needs its top guns and daredevilry is not an indulgence.
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