MiG-27 crash: With “482 crashes in 4 decades”, are the Soviet era fighter planes ‘flying coffins’?

In the past 4 years, 10 major crashes involving the MiG aircrafts have been reported.

Jodhpur, June 13: In 2013, then Defence Minister AK Antony raised concerns over the existing MiG fighter planes, citing its poor track record in terms of safety. In the Rajya Sabha, Antony released alarming figures which claimed that 482 MiG aircrafts crashed between the period of 1972 to 2012. Defence experts have urged successive Indian governments to replace the fighter planes, and have termed it as ‘flying coffins’ or ‘widow-makers’ due to its probability of meeting an accident.

The MiG-27 fighter plane, which crashed today, once again raises serious apprehensions over reliability of the Soviet era aircrafts. The MiGs were originally built by Mikoyan Design Bureau in Russia. Later on, they were licensed to be produced in India by Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL). A total of 872 MiGs were used by India till 2005. (ALSO READ: 3 injured as MiG-27 aircraft crashes near Jodhpur; both pilots safe).

In the past 10 years, 482 aircrafts have been destroyed in air crash. Nearly 50 per cent of the MiGs which Indian Air Force possessed has been put out of service. The toll of fatalities have been increasing over the year due to the accidents. In the past 10 years, nearly 171 pilots, 39 civilians, and 8 IAF personnels have been killed.

The previous fatal accident involving the MiG was reported in the past month. On May 8, MiG 27 crashed near West Bengal’s Tantipara village killing 2 civilians.