New Delhi: Today, 48-year-old Sunita, is a tad worried after reading the morning newspaper, which mentions the news of a MiG-21 crash in Rajasthan's Barmer claiming life's of both pilots Wg Cdr M Rana and Flt Lt Advitiya Bal. Sunita says she is getting restless since reading about the tragic incident.
Again and again, the face of her 19-year-old son is flashing in front of her eyes as her son is an Air Force Cadet at the National Defense Academy, Khadagwasla, and in the second year of his course. After a year, he too will join the Indian Air Force Academy, Dundigal for his flying training. The thought of her son in Mig-21 is giving her chills. "I thought tomorrow my babu's name can also be in place of these two pilots," says Sunita.
After a long silence, Sunita starts speaking again - "We assume that one day his name may also appear in the newspaper like this." The voice of Sunita sobbing can be heard clearly. “Since morning, my heart is wrenching for those two Bravehearts, they were also someone's child, tomorrow it can be my son, we can't take this for granted anymore."
Also read: Nearly one-third of IAF’s Mig-21 fleet has crashed since 1963
When asked whether she feels angry over these outdated jets, Sunita responds calmly “I am not angered but I am saddened, there is so much lack of honesty in our system, neither the public is thinking nor the government."
She says firmly, "No one cares, corporate culture has become so entrenched everywhere that no one cares that our two promising kids leave like this. People settle by paying tribute and then forget. But I feel as if these two were the children of my own family.
“The government spends billions of rupees on the training of a pilot and the maintenance of their planes. It's also been said that the life of a pilot is more valuable than that of a plane, and in distress, a pilot can eject. So why give up such old aircraft which have a high chance of an accident? Why don't we remove MiGs from the Airforce? Is retaining the MiG 21 a sign of a bigger corruption? Why are we losing our pilots by installing local parts in those jets?"
"Someone will tell me how long these MiG-21 will keep on taking the lives of our pilots....for how long? Who will stop this..? To become a fighter pilot, the government presents the Air Force in full glory and glamour, so that our youth come and join it. But when they enter the job, they are given a 'flying coffin' to fly. Why ?"
“Even today, I tell my son not to disperse his mind too much, in a crisis your goal is to eject and get out of the jet which requires a lot of precision and concentration. That's why I tell him not to pay too much attention to social media as it's a distraction."
Sunita has made herself stronger and has decided that she will not bring sadness in her voice when her son calls from Khadakwasla as usual in the evening. To encourage the son, he has shared the 'Pilot Manual' of the Indian Air Force on Facebook this morning, which read:
"Fighter pilots have ice in their veins. They don’t have emotions when they are in that seat. They think, and anticipate. They know that fear and other concerns cloud your mind from what’s going on and what you should be involved in. There are thousands of things that can go wrong and you have to be ready and act quickly to fix it, your life and others' lives depend on it." - IAF pilot manual.
