IAF worried after Russia grounds Il-76 fleet

[Ruag]

Grounding of IL-76 worries IAF

NEW DELHI: Russia’s move to ground its entire Ilyushin-76 fleet after one of the heavy-lift military aircraft crashed in Siberia on Sunday, killing the 11 crew members on board, has sparked widespread concerns in India.

IAF has two IL-76 ‘Gajraj’ squadrons (around 12 aircraft in all), one based in Nagpur and other in Chandigarh, as well as six IL-78 mid-air refuellers in Agra. The aircraft crash in Russia on Sunday, soon after taking off from Mirny airport in the Sakha Republic, was the second such accident of IL-76, the mainstay of the Soviet and Russian air force since the 1970s, in less than a month.

“We’ve received no official word from Russia till now. We are trying to find out what led to the crash. Checks will be carried out on our IL-76s but there is no plan to ground them as of now,” said a senior IAF officer.

“Russia had also grounded its entire MiG-29 fleet earlier this year but we did not follow suit with our MiG-29 fighters. We’ve proper maintenance procedures in place and carried out extensive checks,” he added.

While IL-78 tankers acquired from Uzbekistan are relatively new, IL-76s were inducted from Russia in mid-1980s. Serviceability of IL-76s, which perform crucial strategic air-lift work for IAF, has been quite a problem.

Grounding of IL-76 worries IAF - India - The Times of India

 

[faisal4pro]

lol.. instead of investigations they are escaping it!

 

[Ruag]

lol.. instead of investigations they are escaping it!

Firstly, stop writing in bold. It is really annoying.

Secondly, learn to read the article before posting your comment. The article clearly quotes the IAF official saying that they are trying to determine the causes of the crash.

Stop ridiculing yourself by posting silly comments.

 

[sudhir007]

This is clearly making road for C-17

 

[Chanakyaa]

Condolences for the lives lost.
irrespective of the nationality; they were humans.

A proper check and investigation must b initiated.

---------- Post added at 01:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:52 AM ----------

Condolences for the lives lost.
irrespective of the nationality; they were humans.

A proper check and investigation must b initiated.