Lawyer urges PM Modi to discontinue MiG-21 from IAF over continued safety concerns

Citing safety concerns, a lawyer on Thursday has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discontinue the MIG-21 aircraft from the Indian Air Force. This request came six days after an IAF fighter pilot was killed in MiG-21 aircraft that crashed. Advocate Satyam Singh mentioned the accident of Squadron Leader Abhinav Choudhary in his letter-- where he was killed when a MiG-21 Bison fighter jet he was flying crashed in Punjab's Moga district on May 21.

Advocate Singh also sent a copy of his letter to the Secretary, Defence Ministry and the Air Chief Marshal, Indian Air Force. He said the recent incident has once again raised questions on the safety of the Soviet-era aircraft.

Delay in new fighter jets' induction

The letter informed that in October 2014, the Air Force Chief had said that due to the delay in removing the old aircraft, India's security is threatened as some part of the fleet is out of date. According to the letter, the experts believe that one of the main reasons for the accidents is the absence of replacements for the MiG-21 in the fleet.

"Experts say that more MiG-21s have crashed than any other fighter because they formed the bulk of the fighter aircraft in the IAF's inventory for a long time. IAF had to keep its MiG-21 fleet flying longer than it would have liked because of a delay in the induction of new fighter jets," the letter stated.

The letter stated that in 1985, Russia removed the aircraft from service, followed by Bangladesh and Afghanistan. This year alone witnessed three accidents involving the MiG-21 Bison.

"Just this year alone, there have been three accidents involving the MiG-21 Bison, which was originally supposed to be replaced by the Tejas. In 2012, former Defence Minister A K Antony had said in Parliament that more than half of the 872 MIG aircraft purchased from Russia had crashed. Due to this, more than 200 persons, including 171 pilots, 39 civilians, and 8 other services people, had lost their lives," said the letter.

The letter further stated there was a widespread demand to phase out MiG-21 which has clearly outlived its utility.  As per official reports, the MIG aircraft, which joined the Indian Air Force in the 1960s, completed their retirement period in the mid-1990. As the aircraft is a single-engine that means it is always under threat and the chance of a plane crash increases when a bird collides or the engine fails, read in the letter.

"The fighting ability of these aircraft of the MiG-21 series is still intact and it is unmatchable, but the record of this aircraft is not very good in terms of safety. More than 400 MiG-21s have been involved in accidents that have claimed the lives of 200 pilots during the last six decades, earning the fighters ominous epithets such as 'Flying Coffin' and 'Widow Maker'," stated the representation sent to the Prime Minister by the lawyer.

For the last 50 years, MiG series fighter aircraft have been the backbone of the Indian Air Force and since 1960 the IAF has received more than 850 MIG fighter aircraft. Not only this, these aircraft have played a decisive role for the country in the 1965 India-Pakistan war, the 1971 war, and the 1999 Kargil war, said the letter.

(With ANI Inputs)

(Image Credits: ANI/PTI)