Indian Air Force SU30 Crashed Near Pune - SB050
October 14, 2014, another incident of an air crash was witnessed in the history of world aviation. Indian Air Force has a wide variety of defense aircraft including the Sukhois, MiGs and Jaguars. In the past decade, Indian Air Force has seen multiple incidents which have shaken the defense system. As per my research, around 19 incidents have taken place leading to crashes of defense jets of the IAF. These crashes not only have a long lasting effect but even create a lot of havoc for the people around.
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The incident took place around 17:30 hours when the aircraft registration SB050 was coming in to land at the Pune Air Force Base (Lohegaon Airport) performing a training flight. The aircraft had been vectored for Runway 28 of Pune and was coming from south direction to make a final turn to land on the runway. The distance from the runway was approximately 22 kms. Suddenly the aircraft was seemed to have been descending too steep which the Pilots found to be some technical fault. The Pilots managed to successfully eject themselves out of the crippled aircraft and the aircraft crashed near the Theur village. The aircraft did not have any past records of malfunctioning or technical glitch. Fortunately, the Pilot and the Co-Pilot had enough room to escape out of the mishap.
What was the reason of the crash? This question comes in the minds of many and no equivalent answer has been found. Looking at the images of the crippled plane which landed in a patch of grass, a few observations were made by me which made me put in my input behind the crash. The aircraft was on its turning for final from its base leg and had pitched the flap to 1 notch.
The landing gear of the aircraft was still not deployed for landing and this means the aircraft was still on its approach phase and not on the landing phase. Vectoring for runway 28, the aircraft was maintaining around 180+ knots to turn for final and land at the air base. If the aircraft had been on a technical fault, the first thing to be hit would have been the electrical systems which according to the sources were working well before the crash took place. Sudden shut down of both the engines of an aircraft with such a marvelous background was a hard nut to crack.
My knowledge says that the aircraft might have run out of fuel while coming into land which possibly led to dual engine failure. When the aircraft stalled and hit the ground, the nose was found around 100 meters away from the aircraft. The most astonishing story about the crash was the aircraft did not catch fire after hitting the ground hard, nor did it have any kind of possible fuel leak being observed around the aircraft or the vicinity. Does this report to some kind of fuel miscalculation or is it some technical fault, is still a question unanswered.
Let’s come together and pray for those brave hearts that play on their lives to keep us safe round the clock. A salute to the brave Men of the Indian Air Force. Jai Hind!
