Air chief flies Sukhoi-30 to reassure pilots
Flying solo
A week after a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter plane crashed leading to grounding of the fleet, IAF Chief N A K Browne on Wednesday took an hour-long sortie in the aircraft here, in an exercise aimed at restoring the confidence of pilots.
The Air Chief Marshal took off from Lohegaon air base and was accompanied by Wing Commander Anurag Sharma, Commanding Officer of the SU-30 MKI squadron, based in Pune.
Addressing the air-warriors after the sortie, Browne said, “I wanted to be here to not only fly the SU-30 MKI but also to assure you that our SU-30 fleet is in capable hands.”
IAF had temporarily grounded the fleet of nearly 120 Russian-made Sukhois to carry out checks after an aircraft that had taken off from Lohegaon base crashed on December 13.
Browne is on a working visit to Lohegaon base, which he had commanded as the Air Officer Commanding, from 2001 to 2003.
Stressing that the force personnel have been doing an “excellent job”, the air chief said the momentum of building up the new SU-30 Squadrons needs to be maintained. Officials also said that the IAF chief performed several different manoeuvres on the plane.
The report of the Court of Inquiry , which was ordered after the December 13 crash, is yet to come but the Sukhois resumed flying duties from Monday. Russian experts have also been called in to assist into the probe.
