Families of martyred Air force personnel 'blame MiG-21' for mishap

Wing Commander Rana hailed from Himachal Pradesh, while Flight Lieutenant Bal from Jammu, an IAF official informed while revealing the names to the media on Friday.

Jammu:Wing Commander M. Rana and Flight Lieutenant Advitiya Bal, the two Indian Air Force pilots martyred in Thursday night’s crash of a MiG-21 trainer aircraft in Rajasthan. Wing Commander Rana hailed from Himachal Pradesh and Flight Lieutenant Bal from Jammu, an IAF official informed while revealing the names to the media on Friday.

Uncle of Lieutenant Bal (26) expressed anguish over the loss of his kin and told ETV Bharat that the Lieutenant was keen to be an Army man from his childhood. While Bal's family could not stop weeping over the loss as he always wanted to be a fighter pilot and after many problems he achieved his goal.

"He made us proud but we urge the Defense Minister, Prime Minister, and the whole government to restrain the use of Mig-21. He could serve the country better but he lost his life because of the country's plane. I urge the government to stop using the plane as many officers have lost their lives. The Armymen are supposed to kill the enemies but the country's weapons are causing casualties in the Army," said the Lieutenant's uncle.

Meanwhile, Air headquarters has already ordered a court of inquiry into the incident to ascertain the cause of the accident. The two pilots were killed when their twin-seater MiG-21 aircraft crashed during a training sortie near Barmer in the desert State. The IAF said the aircraft was on a sortie from the Utarlai air base and the accident occurred around 9.10 p.m.

In March, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhat said in the Rajya Sabha that 42 defense personnel were killed in accidents involving aircraft and helicopters of the three services in the last five years. The total number of air accidents in the last five years was 45, out of which 29 involved IAF’s platforms.