Decade of crashes- 106 aircraft lost, 74 pilot fatalities in 10 years, highest in peacetime

On November 21, a Tejas fighter jet crashed during an aerial demonstration at the Dubai Air Show, killing the pilot, Wing Commander Namansh Syal.This comes less than two weeks after a Pilatus PC-7, crashed during a routine training on Thiruporur-Nemmili Road near Chennai, on November 14, the pilot ejected himself safely. Similarly, on July 9, a Jaguar aircraft crashed in Churu district, Rajasthan, killing both the pilots, Squadron Leader Lokendra Singh and Flight Lieutenant Rishi Raj Singh. Another Jaguar on April 2, one on March 7, and on the same day, an An-32 transport aircraft skidded off the runway. These are just some of the incidents happened this year. These numbers are shocking; more disturbing is the fact that these numbers are for a country that is also ranked as the world’s fourth most powerful nation, with the world’s fourth-largest Air Force.

Decades of crashes

Taken together from the publicly available records in the last 10 years Indian airforce have suffered at least 106 aircraft crashes and 74 pilot fatalities. Eight in 2024, eight in 2023, five in 2022, 11 in 2021, and five in 2020. A disturbing trend of high number of aircraft loses during peacetime. One of the most notable one being the death of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat in a helicopter crash near Coonoor, Tamilnadu. According to Bharat Rakshak, a privately run defence website, India has lost 14 squadron ie, 255 aircrafts in the last two decades. From 1993 to 2013, a total of 151 pilots and co-pilots lost their lives in non combat scenarios. If we go back to 1948, this number becomes extraordinary, IAF have lost 1,804 aircraft till 2025 (excluding helicopters), and among them only 143 were lost during combat mission.

Why are these accidents happening?

Defence analysts, retired officers, parliamentary committee findings point to a mix of reason. Primarily because of an ageing fleet, the Soviet Air Force had retired MiG 21 in 1985 and France has done the same with Jaguars in 2005. But Indian Air Force have been using these old aircrafts like the MiGs and Jaguar. Of the six crashes this year two of them were Jaguar. India retired MiG 21 in September 2025, while still uses some of the outdated variants of MiG 29, which are used by Russia only for demonstration purposes. Of the 872 MiG aircraft purchased by India, 482 had crashed by April 2012, approximately 200 pilots have lost their lives to these MiGs so much so, they are often referred to as ‘flying coffins’. IAF had to continue them because of the lack of a proper replacement. HAL Tejas itself was supposed to be that replacement. But Tejas has faced severe criticism, due to its delay in development and performance shortcomings. Originally sanctioned in 1980, to replace the ageing MiGs, it first took flight in 2001 and was cleared for operation much later. The initial failure of the Kaveri engine also made the Tejas MK1 dependable on US based General Electric F401 and F404 engines, making it prone to supply chain disruptions.

There are culmination of other factors like maintainance and repairing challenges, pilot shortages, lack of training and human error. A report by a parliamentary defence panel (covering 2017–22) found that of 34 accidents, 19 were due to human error, and 9 were due to technical defects. Following the recent crash the official response has been standard- the IAF issues condolences, a court is formed and then there will be an inquiry. Experts are saying it's too early to cite the reason. The IAF's modernisation drive is planning to use 220 Tejas MK1 and MK1A variant in its fleet. Now accidents at global shows have become extremely rare case. It raises questions on the peformance and quality of these aircrafts. These kind of incidents at the third largest global air show will also reduce the stock of the aircraft in the market. "It is the first fully domestic Indian fighter that is not based on foreign designs," said British-based defence analyst Francis Tusa, adding that export interest so far had been limited. “There is work on a Tejas Mark 2."