New Delhi, Nov. 14: The Indian Air Force’s frontline Sukhoi 30Mki combat aircraft are set to fly again a month after two pilots were thrown off their plane mid-air in their ejection seats.
Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said here today that an investigation into the October 14 crash at the Lohegaon air base in Pune was nearly complete. The Sukhoi 30Mki make up a third of the IAF’s fighter-fleet.
“This (Pune crash on October 14) was an accident which appeared to be (because of) automatic firing of the seats. A court of inquiry (CoI) is about to be complete and the findings are being finalised. We will have the results very soon and we are going to start flying the aircraft very soon,” Raha said.
This is the third time the IAF has reported a problem with the pilot-ejection seats of the Sukhoi 320Mki. The first was in 2008 from a stationary plane inside a hangar. An airman was ejected and killed after his head hit the roof of the hangar. The second was in Jodhpur in July this year when a plane was taxiing. The pilots were safe.
The seats of Sukhoi 30Mki are made by Russian firm NPP Zvezda. IAF fighter aircraft also have ejection seats made by British firm Martin Baker.
Russian specialists had joined the IAF to investigate causes of the crash. The Russians claim the ejection seats have an impeccable safety record and cannot fire on their own.
The Russian-origin Sukhoi 30Mki are the latest in the IAF’s inventory of combat aircraft. The aircraft is flown by two pilots (one of whom flies the plane and the other delivers weapons). The pilots sit one behind the other (tandem seating), the rear pilot at a height above the front. They sit on ejection seats. Ejection seats are fitted with rockets that, in emergency situations or on instruction, throw open the canopy and throw up the pilot to a height above the tail of the aircraft. They are equipped with parachutes, oxygen tanks and emergency rations and, even, a firearm.
In the last accident on October 14, the Sukhoi 30Mki was aligning to land on the runway when the pilots were ejected.
“I am very hopeful that the CoI will end soon and we will be able to fly this fleet all over again and get back to normal,” Raha said.
The Sukhoi 30Mki are now integrated in India by defence public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited after being sent by the Russians in semi-knocked down kits under a technology transfer agreement.
The IAF expects to get a total of 272 Sukhoi 30Mki aircraft. It currently has about 10 squadrons (about 193 aircraft).
Raha said the Sukhoi 30MKi is a “huge and complicated project”.
“Of course the IAF has been involved in final configuration of the aircraft. A lot of it is from our side, indigenous and from other sources. So this is a huge project, a complicated project,” the chief of air staff said.
