MiG-21s begin flying again after Rajasthan crash

The air force operates more than 50 MiG-21 Bison aircraft, the latest and last variant of the MiG-21.

The Indian Air Force’s MiG-21 fighter jets have begun flying again after they were grounded for safety checks three weeks ago following a crash in Rajasthan on May 8 that proved fatal for three civilians on the ground, officials familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The MiG-21 Bis (an upgraded MiG-21 variant flown for the first time in 1976) was further upgraded to MiG-21 Bison in India in 2000. (HT)

The air force operates more than 50 MiG-21 Bison aircraft, the latest and last variant of the MiG-21.

The crash in Hanumangarh in which three women were killed put the spotlight on the troubling safety record of India’s longest-serving fighter plane once again and forced the air force to ground the entire fleet. It is not uncommon for an aircraft fleet to be grounded for inspection after an unexplained crash or incident.

The air force operates three squadrons of the MiG-21 Bison. The squadrons have resumed flying, with the fighter jets being cleared for operations in batches, said one of the officials, who asked not to be named.

The IAF is set to retire these squadrons by 2025. The MiG-21 Bis (an upgraded MiG-21 variant flown for the first time in 1976) was further upgraded to MiG-21 Bison in India in 2000.

“I am happy that the government has decided to phase out the MiG-21s by 2025 and I hope this deadline doesn’t change,” Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd), director general, Centre for Air Power Studies, said after the May 8 crash.

The MiG-21 Bisons were grounded at a time when most of the military’s advanced light helicopters (ALHs) were also grounded for checks after a string of incidents including the crash landing in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar on May 4 in which a soldier was killed, and two pilots injured.

The military has begun clearing the ALH Dhruv for urgent flying missions in batches after safety checks to keep itself operationally ready, but routine sorties are still no-go after the indigenous multi-mission chopper was grounded following three incidents in less than two months earlier this year.

The IAF got its first single-engine MiG-21 in 1963 and progressively inducted 874 jets (different variants of the Soviet-origin supersonic fighter) to bolster its combat potential. More than 400 MiG-21s have been involved in accidents that have claimed the lives of 200 pilots in the past six decades.

Of the 874 MiG-21s inducted, more than 60% were licence-produced in India. More MiG-21s have crashed than any other fighter because they formed the bulk of the fighter aircraft in the IAF for a long time. The IAF has had to keep its MiG-21 fleet flying longer than it would have liked because of the delay in the induction of new fighter jets.

The IAF retired MiG-21 Bisons at the Srinagar-based 51 squadron, also known as Sword Arms, last September.

Wing Commander (now Group Captain) Abhinandan Varthaman, who was awarded Vir Chakra for shooting down a Pakistani F-16 during a dogfight over the Line of Control on February 27, 2019, was with the 51 squadron then.

The dogfight took place a day after the IAF bombed a terror facility in Pakistan’s Balakot.

IAF’s Mirage-2000s struck targets in Balakot on February 26, 2019, in response to the Pakistan-backed Pulwama suicide attack in Kashmir in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed 12 days earlier.