2017 has indeed been a sad year for the Indian Air force, which has lost precious lives in the unpredictable mountainous terrain of Arunachal Pradesh.

In the latest in a series of mishaps, seven personnel were killed on Friday in an IAF chopper crash near Tawang. The Mi-17 V5 helicopter was on an air maintenance mission when it crashed.

Earlier in May, a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet with two pilots on board had crashed in the dense forests of Arunachal Pradesh, shortly after taking off from the Tezpur Air Force station on a routine training sortie. A frontline fighter jet, SU-30 MKI aircraft were deployed in the Tezpur airbase on June 15, 2009 for guarding the Sino-India frontier in Arunachal Pradesh.

In another crash on July 4, three Indian Air Force pilots were killed during a rescue operation of flood-affected people in the state. The Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) had lost contact soon after its take off from Sagalee before the rescue. The mutilated bodies of Wing Commander Mandeep Singh Dhillon, Flight Lieutenant Pramod Kumar Singh and Sergeant Rajendra Yashwant Gujjar and IRBn Jawan Nada Umbing were recovered along with the wreckage of the chopper three days later. Until it went missing the chopper had evacuated 169 stranded people from Sagalee and Dambuk areas. 

Almost at the same time, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju had a close shave with death when the Mi-17 helicopter he was in had to land in a polytechnic college field in Itanagar due to poor visibility.

Arunachal is known for its unpredictable weather which makes flying even more challenging in this region. There have been a series of aircraft crashes over the past few years mostly due to unfavourable weather conditions.

However, this latest accident which comes days after a sensational revelation by a pilot of the BSF’s Air Wing alleging that several VIPs have been flying in unsafe conditions, with uncategorized pilots flying VIPs, aircraft not being maintained properly and standard operating procedures of flying not being followed definitely raises red flags.

 

The losses especially in peacetime are not only sad but also a cause of concern. Our hearts go out to the families of these bravehearts, who have to learn to live without them. The government and the authority concerned must make concerted efforts to minimise accidents to save precious lives and to preserve our assets.

 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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