| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Aseem
Member
Joined: 15 Dec 2006
Posts: 2841
Location: YYZ
|
 Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 5:04 am Post subject: IAF grounds Sukhoi-30 fleet after Pune crash |
 |
|
| Quote: | The fleet of about 200 twin-engine Su-30s would be back in air only when they are cleared by the technical review.
India has grounded its entire Sukhoi-30 fighter jet fleet and is undertaking a thorough technical check after both the pilot seats in one of the aircraft ejected without command during landing, leading to a crash near Pune recently.
The fleet of about 200 twin-engine Su-30s would be back in air only when they are cleared by the technical review.
The move came after a Su-30 fighter of the Indian Air Force was involved in an accident on October 14, 2014 in which both ejection seats had “fired” while the aircraft was coming in to land.
The pilots were safe but the aircraft crashed about 20 km short of the runway.
No loss of life or damage to property was reported. A Court of Inquiry (CoI) had immediately been constituted to investigate the cause of the accident.
“Meanwhile, as is the procedure in such cases, the flying of the Su-30 fleet has been temporarily suspended. The CoI is in progress and certain specific checks are being conducted on the aircraft. As and when the checks are complete and the Court is satisfied, the Su-30s will be put back into flying,” a statement released by the air force said.
The grounded fleet represents almost a third of the country’s fighter plane fleet.
IAF is down to 34 combat squadrons, as against an authorised strength of 44. Each squadron has up to 18 fighter planes.
Incidentally, one of the two pilots was involved in a previous Su-30 crash too.
This was the fifth accident involving a SU-30 MKI since 2009 and the fleet has at least been grounded twice earlier. |
The Hindu
one of the comments says
| Quote: | | Are IAF personnel especially maintenance crew recruited based on merit & the best of the breed? The cost of each plane far exceeds the cost of the lifetime salary of the squadron, not to speak of significance for national security. What is the level of training they received and competence to overhaul aircraft? How good are the squadron commanders? Finally, is Sukhoi fighter jets another piece of Russian metal like MIG? Cheaper price should not be the criteria. India should take Israeli technical assistance and or training as they are better than the best including USAF for they brook no nonsense. Do the flight & ground crew go by a checklist before every sortie? If these questions are not answered, it will be as usual another routine inquiry. Time for Namo to appoint a no-nonsense DM, not a finance minister, to manage? |
We need to ask questions about our maintenance before pointing fingers at Russians. After all are their Sukhois falling?
VT-ASJ
_________________
[url=http://openflights.org/user/aseemsjohri]
 [/url] |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
sumantra
Member
Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:07 am Post subject: Re: IAF grounds Sukhoi-30 fleet after Pune crash |
|
|
| Aseem wrote: | | We need to ask questions about our maintenance before pointing fingers at Russians. After all are their Sukhois falling? |
Aseem, the Russians do not operate the Su-30MKI. The different planes in the Su-27 series are often only superficially similar. Let us wait for some more news, even if it is not from the official CoI, whose findings may not be made public. On a different note, Russia had grounded its Su-27 fleet pending an investigation, in 2012.
http://defensetech.org/2012/06/29/russia-grounds-su-27-fleet-after-thursday-crash/
Thanks, Sumantra. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
shivendrashukla
Member
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 1354
Location: Mumbai, India
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:43 am Post subject: |
|
|
Hi Aseem,
I have answered this question before and I will try my best to answer some here as well.
1. Military aviation involves flying which routinely takes the aircraft to its limit. Its not careless flying but its well thought of tactics. The margin off error at these limits are extremely low and needless to say, mistakes do happen. Its not limited to Indian Air Force and Air Forces of so called "Developed" nations too face similar situations. Publicly available information suggests that USAF has lost upto 10 aircraft this year.
2. Now regarding maintenance issues. As Sumantra Sir pointed out, Russians have very little to do with Maintenance of Su-30MKI. Under the hood it is a completely different aircraft, which even Russian pilots wont be able to fly without training. As for Sukhois falling out of the sky, let me point out that since their Induction in 2002, there has been 5 crashes with only 1 casualty. Whereas there have been 25 Boeing 737 crashes during the same time period, killing 1000s. So can we assume that Boeing planes are unsafe to fly or Boeing maintenance philosophy isnt good. Let me also point out that there are fleets in Indian Air Force that hasnt had a since hull loss. IL-76 and Dornier 228 hasnt had a single hull loss despite operating for close to 25 years.
Cheers
Shivendra |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Aseem
Member
Joined: 15 Dec 2006
Posts: 2841
Location: YYZ
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
thanks Shivendra!
_________________
[url=http://openflights.org/user/aseemsjohri]
[/url] |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
shivendrashukla
Member
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 1354
Location: Mumbai, India
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sumantra
Member
Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi
|
| Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
| shivendrashukla wrote: | | http://shivendrashukla.wordpress.com/2014/10/24/air-force-guys-are-people-too/ |
Beautiful piece, Shukla-ji, which includes (if I remember correctly), some lines you wrote in the C-130J thread as well.
Cheers, Sumantra. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
shivendrashukla
Member
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 1354
Location: Mumbai, India
|
| Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 1:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Thanks Sumantra Sir. Yes I have reproduced what I had written along with some additions. Glad you liked it.
Cheers
Shivendra |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
