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Indian mother presses for MiG ban
Amazing what you find at the BBC.The mother of an Indian fighter pilot killed in a crash two years ago has begun a campaign against the use of Russian-made MiGs by the Indian air force. Kavita Gadgil's 27-year-old son, Abhijit, was flying a MiG-21 fighter aircraft when it went down in the Indian state of Rajasthan. More than one 150 Indian fighter planes have crashed in the past 10 years. That's a high attrition rate. The Indians might want to fix that prior to engaging in India-Pakistan IV. Experts blame a lack of training facilities and poor maintenance for the crashes. Thank goodness we have experts to tell us this. Abhijit Gadgil was on a routine flight. Today, still unconvinced about the airworthiness of the aircraft, Ms Gadgil has found a way to deal with her tragedy. She has formed a group of people who seek what she calls a "rational explanation" for the continuing MiG crashes. The expert just 'plained it, ma'am. Sorry about your son. Speaking to the BBC, Ms Gadgil said the Abhijit Air Safety Foundation was formed on 21 December 2002, an anniversary of the day her son was commissioned into the Indian air force. More than 100 people, including doctors and engineers have already joined the group, Ms Gadgil said. She added: "We will be creating pressure groups and we want the government to make public the results of all the MiG crash inquiries." "My son's death is just a statistic now as so many fighter pilots have gone down after his death," she said. "The real cause of the accidents is not being revealed." The expert just 'plained it, ma'am. Sorry about your son. Her elder son, Kedar Gadgil, said they were prepared to approach the courts and file a case against the flying of MiGs. There's any number of pilots, airedales and mechanics around the world that would join such a suit. The Gadgil family alleges there is something wrong with the aircraft, but the government is not even willing to publicly announce the results of crash inquiries. Of course they won't announce the results. They bought lousy planes and are stuck with them. It's not like they can buy F-18 Super Hornets. Or even F-20 Super Tigers. "India has lost so many talented and young pilots already in these crashes," Ms Kavita Gadgil said. But Indian defence officials say human error rather than technical fault is one of the major reasons for crashes. Already laying out their defense for when Johnnie Cochran sues them in a California court in a product liability suit. The air force says it is taking necessary measures to reduce the number of accidents. Are they buying new airplanes? An air force spokesman, Squadron Leader SN Dhingra, told the BBC the newly-formed association was an emotional reaction of the families of the pilots. He said: "During the last five years, we have specified before parliament the cause of the MiG accidents - whether hit by birds or human error." That's a lot of birds. Face it, Squadron Leader, you have bad airplanes, and your own pilots are saying this down at the O-club. Count on it. Posted by: Steve White 2003-02-04 |
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