Rising Human Errors Leading to Fatal Aircraft Crashes in IAF, What Went Wrong?
Human errors are on the rise, causing fatal aircraft crashes. Parliament has informed us about new measures to undertake. Includes stringent training of pilots, regular maintenance, and flight reviews to ensure safety. They also claim that human error killed Cheif Bipin Rawat.
Despite significant changes and developments in aircraft maintenance and the introduction of new-generation aircraft, Human errors have increased over the past few years leading to fatal aircraft crashes. To date, there have been 34 IAF fighter jet crashes out of which 19 are caused because of Human error. Parliament informs the general audience regarding the rising human error such as inadequate training and overconfidence of the pilots. The recent news of Bipin Rawat’s death has become quite popular. However, today the matter came to light when the report was submitted regarding the main cause of the accident of the IAF chopper. Human error is again being regarded as a malfunction that caused the death of the Chief of Defence, Bipin Rawat.
Technical snags are also one of the challenges that is affecting the country’s defense mechanism. The MiG-21 is one of the most accident-prone aircraft because of the age, new generation aircraft such as Jaguar and Suk-30 have also become prone to accidents primarily because of human errors. In the case of Bipin Rawat the pilots before crashing the helicopter conveyed the message to the ATC claiming to have a sudden change in the weather. However, inadequate skills were the primary reason behind the fatal helicopter crash.
The parliament urged the Ministry of Defence to ensure certain factors by which the safety of the pilots can be obtained. The practices include frequent maintenance of the aircraft from all squadrons. Review of the flights before and after they have taken off. Training of the pilots to be improved with strong training activities to ensure a high dominance through skills. Lastly, obtaining recommendations through the inquiry.
According to a report, there is a decline in aircraft accidents in the Indian Air Force, however, the rise of human and technical errors is causing a strain on India’s defense strategy. In the past three years, IAF saw a spike in the number of accidents. This is also a financial challenge to the country as the aircraft are quite expensive and bought in limited numbers.
(Source-https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/34-air-force-accidents-in-5-years-19-due-to-human-error-parliamentary-panel-2652755-2024-12-20)
The graph above shows various reasons behind the accidents of the IAF fighter jets. While Technical defense and being hit by a foreign object score enough, human errors have topped the bar. This is extremely concerning to the country for which security measures are also at stake.
The report submitted by the parliament supports measures to be taken by the Indian Defence system so that the safety of the pilot and the aircraft can be ensured. Strict training, maintenance, and frequent reviews must be made by IAF to stay on the toes.