‘We all quietly watched…’: US pilot recounts horrific Tejas crash, reveals his team withdrew from Dubai Airshow
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘We all quietly watched…’: US pilot recounts horrific Tejas crash, reveals his team withdrew from Dubai Airshow")
US aerobatic pilot Taylor “FEMA” Hiester and Wing Commander Namansh Syal Photograph: (X, Instagram, AFP)
US aerobatic pilot Taylor “FEMA” Hiester shared an emotional account after the fatal IAF Tejas crash at the Dubai Airshow, saying his team cancelled their show out of respect. He reflected on the tragedy, the quiet grief of the Indian crew, and the importance of valuing one’s team.
Days after Indian Wing Commander Namansh Syal passed away when a Tejas fighter jet crashed during the Dubai Air Show, a US aerobatic pilot has shared an emotional account of the moments. He revealed that while the airshow organisers made the “shocking” decision to continue with the flying schedule, his team chose to cancel their scheduled performance out of respect for the fallen pilot. Taking to Instagram, US aerobatic pilot Taylor “FEMA" Hiester said that he received several messages from people checking on his team after the tragedy.
“Our team along with a few others made the decision to cancel our final performance out of respect to the pilot, his colleagues and family”, he said. Describing the horrific moments and the stillness of the time when the crashed happened, he wrote, “After two years of doing this job, that was a first for our team and it came just before our final performance of the season. Together and individually, we all quietly watched the aftermath unfold from a distance thinking about the Indian maintenance crew standing on the ramp next to an empty parking spot, aircraft ladder laid on the ground, the pilot’s belongings still in his rental car. I suppose each of us contemplated their new reality that came in an instant.”
Calling the experience “uncomfortable", Hiester said, "It was uncomfortable for me for a lot of reasons, some of them selfish, imagining my own team walking out of the show site without me, rock and roll playing on the speakers as another act performs. However, that very jarring shock of misplaced, borderline alternate reality sense of normalcy was a gift in its own way." “Just before the last performance, at the last show, the last time we’d all wear our show uniforms together, I was shaken awake by this truth – despite whatever guise, whatever “rockstar treatment", fancy dinners and sponsor chalets, my team who became my family is all I ever had in the first place. It’s a lesson I’ll keep with me long after I’m finished with demonstration flying. It applies to you too," he said.
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Meanwhile, the IAF remembered Wing Commander Namansh Syal's legacy as that of "courage, devotion and honour". Wing Commander Namansh Syal was flying the Tejas fighter jet on Friday when it plunged to the ground during a negative-G maneuver, erupting into a massive fireball on impact. The Wing Commander was a resident of Nagrota Bagwan in Himachal Pradesh and schooling at Sainik School, Sujanpur Tira, in Hamirpur district. He is survived by his aged parents, his wife — an Indian Air Force officer — and their six-year-old daughter.
