BAF aircraft crash

Accidents in flying are occupational hazards for a pilot, and those choosing the hazard-prone calling take up the profession fully aware of this possibility. While that is so, it is the responsibility of those that send our young men up in the air, either on training or on operational missions, to ensure that our pilots are in control of machines that are operationally fit and secure in all respects. It must be seen to that all actions are taken to ensure that the probability of accidents is brought down to near zero, if not eliminated entirely.

While one accepts, with some degree of reluctance, the probability of accidents when flying, we find it hard to accept the statement made by a senior BAF officer that accidents of training planes are usual. And very little comfort can be drawn from the fact that the numbers of aircraft accidents in the BAF are less than that in other neighbouring countries. Without going into number crunching even 44 crashes is quite large if taken in percentage terms of the number of aircrafts held by the air force and the yearly flying hours that are logged.

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Even more disconcerting is the statistics that 40 percent of the accidents occur due to technical reasons while the causes of 50 percent of the accidents remain unearthed. Both should give reason for worry to the BAF top brasses. Technical flaws can be removed with proper maintenance, but if one were to remain ignorant of the causes of half of the aircrafts that crash, we are in a very uncertain zone, a situation that should not be countenanced by any air force, let alone ours whose resources are severely limited as it is.

Flight safety establishment, whose job it is to ensure the reduction of probability of accidents, is an important adjunct of an air force. But, it can do very little if it remains clueless of the causes of 50 percent of the accidents.