The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday lost one of its senior active fighter pilots in an air crash.
Air Commodore Sanjai Chauhan, Air Officer Commanding of the Jamnagar Air Force station, was piloting a Jaguar fighter on a routine mission when it crashed.
“On June 5, 2018, a Jaguar aircraft which was on a routine training sortie crashed at 0945h over Kutch area in Gujarat,” the IAF said in a statement.
One IAF source said Air Cmde Chauhan was an experimental test pilot and had flown most of the aircraft in the IAF inventory. “He has flown over 2000 hours on the Jaguar aircraft alone,” he stated.
The fighter jet crashed soon after it took off from the Jamnagar air base, a defence spokesperson said.
‘Highly experienced’
Air Cmde Sanjai Chauhan, aged around 50, was a decorated and highly experienced fighter pilot who was a recipient of the Vayu Sena Medal.
“During his service, Air Cmde Chauhan held several important posts such as the Commanding Officer of the Test Pilots’ School. He also commanded a fighter squadron of the IAF,” said one of the officials.
“He was an ace fighter pilot with a vast flying experience and had flown 17 types of aircraft of the IAF, including Jaguar, Mig-21, Hunter, HPT-32, Iskara, Kiran, Avro-748, AN-32 and Boeing 737,” he said.
Air Cmde Chauhan also had the unique experience of flying modern foreign fighter jets such as Rafale, Gripen and Euro Fighter as the leader of evaluation for the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft selection, the official said.
Even though active flying goes down beyond certain seniority, it is a practice for senior officers to fly periodically.
The IAF has a fleet of 121 Jaguar deep penetration strike fighters which are being upgraded. A long pending proposal to get a new, more powerful engine on the jets is in its final stages.
A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.
(With inputs from PTI)
