IAF Mirage crashed when air chief was in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Air Chief Marshall B.S. Dhanoa was present here on Friday when an upgraded version of Mirage-2000 jet fighter crashed and its two pilots died despite ejecting out of it.

"The Chief of Air Staff chaired the Training Command Commanders' Conference at the Training Command headquarters at Hebbal in the city," said a press statement from the defence public relations office here.

Though the Mirage crashed in the military airport campus just after take-off in the city's eastern suburb around 10.30 a.m., there was no reaction of Dhanoa in the statement or anyone seeing him visiting the wreckage spot even after the incident came to light and to the notice of the IAF and the media.

The defence statement mentioned in detail about Dhanao appreciating the changes in the training syllabus to make it more operational oriented and other aspects of training the air warriors, there was no reference to the tragic crash in which precious life of two ace pilots was lost.

"The pilots passing out after Hawk advanced jet trainer (AJT) training will be fit for operational roles. The airmen training has also been enhanced with emphasis on security training, cyber security and management of social media," said the statement further.

The technical training pattern ensures that air warriors are ready to undertake operational roles in an enhanced technological environment.

"Dhanoa also inspected a guard of honour presented by the air warriors of the local Training Command," added the statement.

The release also stated that Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the local Training Command Air Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria received the Chief of Air Staff and his wife Kamalpreet Dhanoa, who is president of Air Force Wives Welfare Association.