Turnaround in IAF’s crash record

[KashifAsrar]

Turnaround in IAF’s crash record

Barring Jamnagar Incident, No Other Mishap In First Five Months Of This Financial Year

Rajat Pandit | TNN

New Delhi: Call it the ‘Rang De Basanti’ effect or what you will. Though it’s still a little early to pop the bubbly, IAF has achieved a remarkable turnaround from being a force plagued by an unusually high number of crashes to one steadily moving towards high flight-safety standards.
Brandishing latest statistics, IAF claims it has recorded a dramatic 91% reduction in the number of crashes in the first five months of this financial year ending on August 31, when compared to earlier years.
In this period, there has been only one Category-I (where the aircraft is totally destroyed) accident when a MiG-29 crashed after developing ‘‘engine fire’’ near Jamnagar in Gujarat on June 8.
That is not to say that fighter or helicopter crashes have virtually vanished from IAF radars. After all, in the last 2005-06 fiscal, two Jaguar jets, one Mi-8 helicopter, four MiG-21 fighters, a Canberra aircraft and a Kiran trainer were lost in crashes.
There has, however, been a big drop in crashes as compared to previous years. From 1971-72 to 2003-04, the consolidated average rate stood at 1.09 accidents per 10,000 hours of flying, roughly translating into the loss of 23 aircraft and the death of 10-14 pilots every year.
It’s no wonder that IAF has recorded around 700 crashes since 1970, with around 180 pilots and scores of civilians on the ground losing their lives. Take another chilling statistic: Of the 793 MiG-21s progressively inducted in IAF since 1963, 330 have been lost in accidents.
But with IAF launching a concerted flight safety strategy on the four pillars of ‘‘technology, capability, training and environment’’, the rate was brought down to 0.44 accidents per 10,000 hours of flying in 2005-06, the lowest-ever recorded since 1971-72.
‘‘An even more significant improvement for the current year, at a rate of 0.10 achieved between April 1 and August 31, indicates a remarkable reduction of 91% when compared to the previous average of 1.09,’’ says outgoing director-general (inspection and safety) Air Marshal P S Ahluwalia, who has just taken over as the Southern Air Command chief, in IAF’s latest flight safety magazine.
How was this turnaround achieved? IAF analysis showed the reasons behind the accidents were: human error (aircrew) 40%; human error (servicing) 2%; technical defects 41%; bird hits 9%; unresolved 6%; and others 2%.
In terms of ‘‘technology’’, IAF had a major problem on its hands, with 26 types of aircraft ranging from ageing Canberras, Avros and MiG-21s to sophisticated Mirage-2000s and Sukhoi-30MKIs.
Studies showed technology of aircraft had a direct bearing on accidents, with low-end technology causing a much higher number of mishaps.
‘‘The MiG-27 fleet, for instance, had a high rate of accidents due to its R-29 engines,’’ said an officer.
‘‘Risk management of vulnerable technology was, therefore, made a priority area. Closer interaction with manufacturers was undertaken to overcome ‘design deficiencies’ in fighters like MiG-21s, MiG-23s and MiG-27s, apart from progressively phasing out older variants,’’ he added.
Similarly, training of pilots was considerably enhanced to minimise human error accidents through ‘‘disorientation, mishandling of controls, poor judgement, lack of situational awareness or simply lack of adequate skills’’.
This was done by modifying the training syllabus, enhanced use of simulators, proper supervision by instructors during high-risk exercises, strict action against defaulters, focused training and better transition training, among other things.

REVIVING ITS IMAGE


Around 700 crashes since 1970, killing 180 pilots and scores of civilians 330 out of 793 MiG-21 fighters inducted have already crashed IAF undertook pro-active steps to weed out obsolete technologies, strengthen quality control, train pilots and technicians, and reduce bird hit

ACCIDENT RATE



1971-72-2005

1.09
accidents per 10,000 hours of flying

2005-2006

0.44
accidents per 10,000 hours of flying

Apr1-Aug 31, 2006

0.01
accidents per 10,000 hours of flying