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Tejas pilot's father found out about crash while scrolling videos of Dubai Airshow on YouTube
IAF pilot Namansh Syal was killed after the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA Mk-1) crashed during a demonstration flight at the Dubai Airshow.
The father of Wing Commander Namansh Syal was scrolling through videos on YouTube when he came across reports of the Tejas jet crash that killed the Indian Air Force (IAF) officer on Friday at the Dubai Airshow.
Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Wing Commander Namansh Syal was killed after the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA Mk-1) crashed during a demonstration flight at the Dubai Airshow, the IAF said.
IAF pilot Syal's father said he found out about the crash while searching for videos of the airshow on YouTube.
“Around 4 pm today, I was searching videos of the ongoing air show in Dubai on YouTube when I saw reports about the plane crash,” The Indian Express quoted his father, Jagan Nath Syal as saying.
The father said he had spoken to Namansh a day before the incident, during which his pilot son had told him to watch his performance on television or YouTube.
After seeing the reports, Jagan Nath immediately called his daughter-in-law and Namansh's wife, who is also an IAF Wing Commander, according to The Indian Express report.
“Moments later, at least six Air Force officers arrived at our house and I realised something bad happened to my son,” the father, a retired school principal from Himachal Pradesh's Kangra, said.
What happened during the Dubai air show?
Visuals of the incident showed the Tejas jet nosediving during the air show and crashing. In a video, people behing the camera can be heard gasping in shock as a thick plume of smoke billows from the spot of the crash.
The pilot was performing low-level aerobatic manoeuvres when the crash took place on the final day of the air show, which had begun on November 17.
““An IAF Tejas aircraft met with an accident during an aerial display at Dubai Air Show, today. The pilot sustained fatal injuries in the accident. IAF deeply regrets the loss of life and stands firmly with the bereaved family in this time of grief,” the IAF said in a statement on X.
It further said that a “court of inquiry” was being constituted to probe the cause of the accident.
