‘My Bond With MiG-21 is Very Rare’: IAF Pilot Who Died in Crash

A MiG-21 Indian aircraft crashed in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district on Wednesday, 18 July, killing an Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot. The pilot has been identified as Squadron Leader Meet Kumar.

A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to establish the cause of the accident, reported ANI.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed "deep grief" over the death of the pilot.

We express deep grief at the martyrdom of a brave air warrior.
At1220 hrs today, a MiG21 of @IAF_MCC ,airborne from Pathankot Airfield for a test, crashed near Pathankot. Our heartfelt condolences to the family of brave pilot Sqn Ldr Meet Kumar, who we lost in the fateful crash.

— Raksha Mantri (@DefenceMinIndia) July 18, 2018

The fighter jet, which had taken off from Punjab's Pathankot, crashed in Mehra Palli village under the Jawali police station, Kangra Superintendent of Police (SP) Santosh Patial said.

The aircraft, which was on a routine sortie crashed at 1:21 pm in the Kangra district. It had got airborne from the Air Force Station in Pathankot at 12:20 pm.

After the crash, two IAF helicopters had landed at the site with Air Force personnel who conducted the preliminary investigations.

The MiG-21 took off from Punjab’s Pathankot and later lost contact with its system...No one else was injured.

Kangra SP Santosh Patia, as quoted by ANI

‘The Bond I Share With MiG-21 is More Than My Wife’: Squadron Leader Meet Kumar

The deceased pilot Squadron Leader Meet Kumar was featured in a video shared by the IAF in March 2018.

In the video, Kumar talked about the special relationship that he shared with the MiG-21, saying:

The bond that we share — me and this machine — is very rare. It is more than (the bond with) my wife. We know each other very well. I (have) spent more time with this machine than my wife.

Squadron Leader Meet Kumar

“When you’re flying this aircraft, you feel none other than God,” he added.

The Mig-21 jets were inducted into IAF over four decades back and many of these planes were lost in crashes.

Currently the IAF has only one squadron (18 aircraft) of the variant which the force is planning to retire in the next one-and-half to two years.

The IAF has been grappling with rising incidents of accidents involving its flying platforms.

Replying to a question on incidents of air crash, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre told the Lok Sabha that a total of 25 accidents involving IAF aircraft were reported since 2015-16, reported PTI.

According to data provided by him, a total of 39 people died in the accidents and the IAF lost all the aircraft involved in the crashes.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)