The MiG Question: ‘Backbone’ to ‘Flying Coffins’, How the Fighter Aircraft Veered Towards Danger

A MiG-21 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed during a routine training sortie in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan on Monday, killing at least three civilians. In a statement, the Indian Air Force (IAF) said the pilot of the aircraft sustained minor injuries.

The IAF said, “A MiG-21 aircraft of the IAF crashed near Suratgarh during a routine training sortie today morning. The pilot ejected safely, sustaining minor injuries."

An inquiry has been constituted to ascertain the cause of the accident, said the IAF.

Called “flying coffins" owing to their history of mishaps, the IAF has been replacing the MiG-21 fighter jets with more capable aircraft like the Su-30 and the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

INDIA GOT FIRST MIG-21 in 1963

• MiG-21 was designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau of the then Soviet Union and India’s longest-serving fighter plane.
• It is a Soviet-era single-engine multirole fighter and ground attack aircraft and once formed the backbone of the IAF fleet.

• India got its first MiG-21 in 1963 and to bolster the combat potential of the country, 874 variants of the supersonic fighters were inducted.
• The MiG-21 Bison, an upgraded version of the MiG-21bis, was first inducted into service in 1976. According to several reports, the MiG-21 had completed its retirement period in the mid-1990s.
• The aircraft has been the backbone for a long time and has been famous for thwarting Pakistan’s aerial attack on February 27, 2019.
• In 2012, former Defence Minister AK Antony had said in Parliament that more than half of the 872 MiG aircraft purchased from Russia had crashed, due to which, more than 200 persons, including 171 pilots, 39 civilians, and eight other services’ people, had lost their lives.

ACCIDENTS SINCE 2020

In the past six decades, more than 400 MiG-21s have been involved in accidents, claiming the lives of around 200 pilots.

2022

1. July 28: The MiG-21 Bison aircraft killed two pilots during a training sortie in Rajasthan’s Barmer.
2. October 28: A MiG-29K fighter jet of the Indian Navy crashed off the Goa coast on Wednesday morning after developing a technical malfunction. The pilot ejected safely.

2021

1. January 5: A MiG-21 Bison aircraft crashed in Rajasthan’s Suratgarh while landing.
2. March 17: IAF Group Captain A Gupta was killed after an MiG-21 crashed while taking off.
3. May 20: Squadron Leader Abhinav Choudhary died in a MiG-21 crash in Moga in Punjab.
4. August 25: MiG-21 Bison fighter aircraft crashed in Barmer during a training sortie.
5. December 24: Wing Commander Harshit Sinha died in a MiG-21 crash in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer.

2020

1. February 23: An Indian Navy MiG-29K aircraft crashed while conducting a routine sortie in Goa.
2. May 8: An Indian Air Force MiG-29 crashed during a training mission in the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab.
3. November 26: A MiG-29K trainer aircraft crashed in the Arabian Sea.

PHASING OUT

On September 30, 2022, the illustrious MiG-21 squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that hit headlines in 2019 for inking a historic record in combat with Pakistan retired after a remarkable journey of 38 years.

As part of the squadron, in February 2019, Wing Commander (Now Group Captain) Abhinandan Varthaman was awarded the Vir Chakra for shooting down a Pakistani F-16 aircraft during a dogfight at the Line of Control.

The squadron was also part of ‘Operation Safed Sagar’ during the Kargil conflict in 1999.

The squadrons of the planes left in service and would be phased out by the year 2025.

Inputs from agencies

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