MiG-21 crash kills Sqn Ldr in Kangra

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala/Delhi, July 18

An Indian Air Force pilot who felt like ‘God’ when flying the MiG-21 fighter jet and had a ‘bond’ with the machine stronger than that with his wife, died a tragic death on Wednesday in an aircrash at Pattan Jaitian village in Jawali area of Kangra, 60 km from Dharamsala.

Squadron Leader Meet Kumar (35), a resident of Delhi, was posted at the Pathankot Air Force Station, He took off at 12.20 pm, on what the IAF described as a ‘routine sortie’, and soon lost contact with the airbase. Eyewitnesses said the plane crashed around 1.20 pm, about 2 km from the nearest habitation. The IAF has ordered a Court of Inquiry. Quoting eyewitnesses, Kangra DC Sandeep Kumar said the plane caught fire mid-air and the pilot apparently manoeuvred the jet away from habitation.

The Squadron Leader loved his machine. In a video titled ‘date with an air warrior’ and posted on the official YouTube channel of the IAF, the pilot described: “Flying this aircraft you feel like none other than God. I have a rare bond that is more than my wife. I have spent more time with this machine than my wife.”

Within the community of pilots, the MiG-21 is known to be a tough plane to fly. It was first inducted into the IAF in 1963. Almost half of the 872 MiGs ever inducted have crashed.

In the video, the deceased says: “I have been flying this beautiful machine called the MiG-21…. It has high landing speed and every landing of the plane is different.” The MiG-21 has the fastest landing speed in the world — it touches down at 340 kmph. But the Squadron Leader did not face a landing this time. Rather, he may not have got the time to eject.

Kangra SP Santosh Patial said there was no loss of life or property on the ground. "Human tissue recovered from the crash site suggest that the pilot failed to eject in time. His body was charred," he said. Villagers were the first to report the crash. One of them, Ramesh, said they heard a loud sound and rushed out of their houses. The crash left a huge crater and debris strewn over a 2 sq km area. A team of IAF officials later arrived at the site and collected evidence.

In New Delhi, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed grief. “Our heartfelt condolences to the family of brave pilot Sqn Ldr Meet Kumar, whom we lost in the fateful crash,” she said.