IAF trainer jet crashes in Yadadri, pilot escapes

Hyderabad: An Indian Air Force trainer aircraft crashed on the city outskirts shortly after take-off on Wednesday afternoon. The pilot, Yogesh Yadav, was flying solo and ejected before the aircraft crashed. He is said to have sustained injuries to his forehead. Sources said that the aircraft took off from the Hakimpet IAF station on a routine training mission and crahsed 50 km away at Bahupeta of Yadadri district. Yogesh Yadav, who was flying the aircraft was doing his Stage-2.

The aircraft bursting into flames after crashing on a patch of barren land. Locals alerted the police who informed the IAF authorities. The Kiran aircraft was charred and the pilot was airlifted to a hospital. This is the third aircraft in a span of 15 months from the IAF Hakimpet station to have crashed. “A Court of Inquiry (CoI) will investigate into the cause of accident,” a defence spokesperson said.

The HJT-16, Kiran, is a two-seater intermediate jet trainer aircraft and is used to train pilots to transition from piston-engined aicraft to jet aircraft. They are manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautical Limited, Bengaluru. The recent models have been fitted with an imported engine.

The HAL has built around 250 aircraft for the IAF Wing Commander T.J. Reddy (retd) said the cause for the crash may be the trainee pilot’s fault or the age of the aircraft. “Trainees have to fly 10-15 hours during their Stage-2 training at the Hakimpet station. The Kirans require stringent maintenance, but because of constant use they are getting only 80 per cent of maintenance which is a concern,” he said. He said the Kiran aircraft  are flown on three to four sorties a day throughout the year. Since the weather was  perfect on Wednesday, the crash may be the result of poor maintenance or the fault of the trainee.

IAF trainees are required to fly much more demanding manoeuvres than civilian pilots. The IAF pilot trainees and aircraft are subjected to much greater stresses than their civilian counterparts, such as those at the Rajiv Gandhi Flying Academy which lost an aircraft last week.

The Kiran Mk II aircraft are ageing. Defence historian K.S. Nair said the final deliveries of the aircraft were in 1989, so the aircraft in service were at least 29 years old, and some much older. “The Kirans have been generally reliable, and have trained two generations of IAF pilots. They have been used by aerobatic teams of the IAF (the Suryakirans) and the Navy (Sagar Kirans), but they are ageing. Young pilots should not be given aircraft that have been exhaustively sued. The IAF should think of procuring new jet intermediate trainers,” he said.