IAF Investigates Crash of Young Tejas, Engine Records Under Scrutiny

Jaisalmer, Rajasthan – In a concerning development, an LCA-Tejas fighter jet, barely three years old, crashed near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, during an operational training sortie on Tuesday. The pilot, thankfully, ejected safely. This incident marks the first crash involving a Tejas aircraft in its 23-year operational history.

The aircraft, identified as LCA-Tejas SP-24/ LA-5020, made its maiden flight in March 2021. Reports indicate the pilot contacted air traffic control (ATC) regarding engine failure shortly before ejecting. This suggests a potential critical issue with the jet's power generation during its landing procedure.

The crash calls into question the previously spotless safety record of the Tejas fleet. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has swiftly ordered a Court of Inquiry to conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash.

While the inquiry's findings are not expected to be made public, a meticulous examination of the aircraft's service history, particularly its engine records, will be a crucial aspect of the investigation.

The IAF will focus on identifying and addressing any technical flaws that may have contributed to the crash. This proactive approach will be vital in ensuring the continued safety and reliability of the Tejas fleet, a key component of India's air defense capabilities.

 

[Kiran Kumar]

Though this is a very first incident of 23 years Tejas history, we can't rule out any internal sabotage on using made in India jets. A thorough separate enquiry by IAF and Indian Govt is needed. Thankfully, pilot is safe (eject seat is working)

 

[beencensured]

Let us see if anyone has the guts to blame the failed engine. So if engine goes so the ability to control plane?

 

[Baiju Bhaskaran]

First internal sabotage should be investigated.

 

[Harpreet Seera]

Never having a crash is also not a good thing. So many safety systems don't get validated. Hopefully this incident would provide valuable data and validation of some of those systems.

 

[Bikramjeet Goswami]

Though this is a very first incident of 23 years Tejas history, we can't rule out any internal sabotage on using made in India jets. A thorough separate enquiry by IAF and Indian Govt is needed. Thankfully, pilot is safe (eject seat is working)

"First incident in 23 years" is a bit misleading. There are only about 50 Tejas jets in operation and most are new. The combined flight time accumulated by the entire Tejas fleet is miniscule compared to say the Sukhoi 30 series. If HAL meets their production targets we can perhaps get an accurate picture of their safety and reliability 10 years from now.

 

[NSR]

Tejas Mk IA has a Black Box and Voice Recorder, and possibly a video recorder which give real-time profile of flight.
IAF, DRDO, ADA, and HAL will surely find the cause soon.

Do not worry guys about the crash as it flew 20+ years without any crashes which is a spectacular accomplishment itself by any means.

 

[Shankys]

as per conventional gyaan from Indian defence jurnos and the coolies, only Russian aircraft have engine failures. So please don't write such things.

 

[avinash]

Last year F35 went missing after its pilot ejected. Accidents happen, malfunctions occur , things go beyond control .... best thing is the pilot is safe. Rest of the matter can be looked into and rectified.

 

[Anant]

Do not worry guys about the crash as it flew 20+ years without any crashes which is a spectacular accomplishment itself by any means.

That isn't anything to be proud of. While the Tejas has had a focus on safety and does enjoy a good safety record, the statement that it has suffered no major accidents in 23 years is somewhat lacking in context, considering how few of them have actually been built.

I can build a prototype aircraft, take it for a single flight (lasting, say 30 seconds) every year, and keep doing that for 80 years. Does that mean my aircraft suddenly has the best safety record of any aircraft type in aviation history? No, a much better way of looking at it is accidents per lakh flying hours.

 

[bonito]

Should be FCS issue.

 

[NSR]

I can build a prototype aircraft, take it for a single flight (lasting, say 30 seconds) every year, and keep doing that for 80 years. Does that mean my aircraft suddenly has the best safety record of any aircraft type in aviation history? No, a much better way of looking at it is accidents per lakh flying hours.

You have a very valid point and I understand it.

But I have seen many kinds of new fighters crash during prototypes, including into flight tests too.

One thing we must be proud is to know that Tejas Is did not crash during something like 10,000+ sorties.
And that is astounding to me considering it is India, a budding fighter developer.
I am mighty proud of Tejas program and the best one will be Tejas Mk2.
Hope that it helps.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

Though this is a very first incident of 23 years Tejas history, we can't rule out any internal sabotage on using made in India jets. A thorough separate enquiry by IAF and Indian Govt is needed. Thankfully, pilot is safe (eject seat is working)

We can rule out inernal sabotage because this jet was kept in the IAF base for 3 years and had done many sorties. Also, before every sortue there is a check. And regular maintenance goes on. Any sabitage would have to be done by IAF men, recently. That is too unlikely. It is more likely thay something went wrong in electrical system

 

[Siddharth Asthana]

This is what happens when you rely on screw driver assebly by HAL or in this case complete plug and play of GE engine. These fellows will now have to share every piece of info with GE and hope that they trouble shoot the engine and if GE concludes that its with Tejas Flight Controls, then indian will have to counter with even more sensitive data........a good time to call in all the pvt sector folks and ask them to build an engine in 10 yrs with assured orders of 500+ units...trust me...it will happen much before GTRE does anything worthwhile in the UCAV space for KAveri

 

[Aravind Raveendran]

There is no need to make a mountain of a mole hill. Even the best jets crash , What we need is to find out the exact reason and rectify it. We should also investigate if any sabotage happened.

 

[Anant]

One thing we must be proud is to know that Tejas Is did not crash during something like 10,000+ sorties.

Very true. The fact that the Tejas suffered no accidents during it's (admittedly extremely long) testing period is testament to the fact that safety was always a priority, as I mentioned. However, there are also a lot of people and media outlets who go with the "Tejas is exceptionally safe because it did not crash in the last 23 years" line, which is the right line with the wrong justification.

 

[Sandeep]

India needs to investigate properly as to what went wrong and why the engine or something else might have failed. This shouldn't be seen as a major issue or to give us a reason that there is a number of major issues with the entire fleet.

The main reasons why a jet crashes is usually down to technical problems during flight, pilot error or shoddy maintenance and servicing that hasn't been done properly. Most of the time it's because it wasn't serviced properly or down to pilot error. If there was a engine issue then it's a major problem as all of our engines have been made by GE and their engines normally aren't the problem at all. It's possible that there was a failure with its FADEC as that's like a small computer which automatically gives the correct level of thrust based upon its flying and what you want the jet to do.

 

[Rajesh]

If the engine is at fault then this incident will calm within a few days and all those critic voice about indigenous weapons will be on sleep mode and if the reason is other than any components imported then these people will put 🔥 on internet regarding drdo hal govt resign and all stuffs

 

[Ratan Sharma]

There is no need to make a mountain of a mole hill. Even the best jets crash , What we need is to find out the exact reason and rectify it. We should also investigate if any sabotage happened.

this is the best comment otherwise I see so many Tom-Dick and Harry - types are giving their shallow judgements. Thank you