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Hawk Crashes at Bidar
http://howrah.org/india_news/10930.html
Hawk 132 crashes at Bidar base
NewsByte 30 April, 2008 06:17:23
By OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, April 30: A brand new Hawk 132 Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed at the Bidar Air Force Station in Karnataka shortly after noon on Tuesday but the pilots escaped unhurt in the incident. The IAF has ordered an enquiry.
The aircraft crashed on the tarmac at about 12.40 pm on Tuesday after it made an abortive bid to takeoff, IAF official sources said.
According to IAF officials, the aircraft lifted off the ground briefly before landing back on the tarmac with a thud even as one of its wings broke. The aircraft suffered extensive damage.
The other nine Hawks have been temporarily grounded, sources said, adding that they would be allowed to fly once it was ascertained that there was nothing wrong with the aircraft.
The HawkAdvanced Jet Trainer which crashed on Tuesday was one of the 10 new aircraft inducted into the IAF just two months ago in the presence of the Indian defence minister, IAF chief and British high commissioner. The aircraft is manufactured by BAe systems, a British company. The total contract signed between the government and BAE systems provides for the procurement of 66 Hawk AJT aircraft out of which 24 will be bought "off the shelf" from BAe while the remaining 42 will be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. after technology transfer from BAe.
But IAF sources confirmed that the IAF had been having a problem with "serviceability" of the aircraft which, in essence, means supply of modern spare parts for the aircraft. IAF sources confirmed that a couple of the Hawks were, in fact, grounded for this reason after induction and said that the matter had been raised with the BAe systems. However, it is too early to say whether this had anything to do with the crash on Tuesday. "Something definitive can be said only once the enquiry report is out," IAF officials said.
According to the IAF, the Hawk AJT was bought since it "is equipped with a state-of-the-art avionics suite and navigation/attack system, a modern glass cockpit and HOTAS (Hands on Throttle and Stick) controls".
The Hawk 132 AJT was expected to expose budding fighter pilots to modern fighter aircraft systems and ensure that they have all the requisite skills to fly a modern multi-role fighter aircraft. However, the crash on Tuesday has raised several uncomfortable questions on why this happened, especially since the aircraft was a new one and had been inducted just two months ago.
In a statement, BAe Systems said, "We are aware of the incident involving a Hawk at Air Force Station, Bidar, and we will fully support the Indian Air Force and Indian ministry of defence in any investigation they undertake."
This is the third IAF aircraft to have crashed this year so far. In the past five years, 61 IAF aircraft have crashed.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Just-inducted_Hawk_trainer_of_IAF_crashes/articleshow/3000060.cms
Just-inducted Hawk trainer of IAF crashes
1 May 2008, 0236 hrs IST,TNN
NEW DELHI: IAF lost one of its newly inducted British Hawk AJTs (advanced jet trainers) on Tuesday afternoon when
it crashed soon after taking off from the Bidar airbase in Karnataka.
"Barely seconds after liftoff, there was apparently some technical snag. One pilot ejected, while the other came down with the aircraft. Fortunately, none of them was seriously injured," said an official.
This is the first accident involving Hawks, which — ironically enough — IAF begun inducting in February this year to help train rookie pilots on the intricacies of combat fighter jet flying and to reduce crashes.
Meanwhile, IAF has ordered a court of inquiry into the mishap on Tuesday which led to the British Hawk AJTs (advanced jet trainers), valued around Rs 85 crore, being "completely destroyed", said sources. The fleet has been grounded till the exact reason behind the mishap is ascertained. The two pilots, incidentally, were instructors on a routine flying mission as part of "continuity training".
Hawk-manufacturer BAE Systems, in turn, said it would be "inappropriate to speculate on the cause of the incident" till the official investigation was complete. "We will fully support IAF and the defence ministry in any investigation they undertake," said a BAE Systems official.
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEK20080430213441&Page=K&Title=Southern+News+-+Karnataka&Topic=0
Hawk crashes in Bidar, both pilots safe
Thursday May 1 2008 07:56 IST
Express News Service
BIDAR: THE Indian Air Force has lost its brand new Hawk-132 trainer aircraft which crashed soon after taking off from Bidar Air Force Station on Tuesday.
The two pilots in the aircraft, which was recently acquired from Britain to improve flight safety record, bailed out safely.
In an embarrassment to the IAF, the aircraft has been lost just a couple of months after it was inducted at an elaborate ceremony attended by Defence Minister A.K Antony and top officials of British Aerospace Systems, the maker of Hawk.
The IAF said an enquiry has been ordered to investigate the reasons for the accident. Sources said the rate of climb severely diminished and the aircraft made contact with the ground in the vicinity of the airfield.
As it took barely a few seconds for the aircraft to come down, only one of the two pilots managed to eject. The other one remained trapped in the aircraft but is said to be safe.
The IAF kept the accident under wraps for more than 24 hours as it was officially announced only on Wednesday that the aircraft has been lost.
The IAF said no person was injured or killed as a result of the accident and there was no damage to civil or other property.
Hawk-132 was specifically made for India to train IAF pilots in handling advanced fighter jets. The IAF had bought 66 Hawks from BAe systems out of which eight have arrived. The aircraft are based in Bidar.
The need to buy an advanced trainer was felt more than two decades ago to curtail high accident rate of the IAF. The IAF fighter pilots train on MiG-21s, a relatively difficult machine to handle.
The accident of Hawk has raised serious questions about the safety aspect of the aircraft.
The induction has not been without teething problems. There were complaints about the availability of spares as a result of which the aircraft were even grounded for a brief period.
Hawk crash caused by pilot error, Thrust malfunction
News just broke on Headlines Today: the team investigating the April 29 crash of a brand new Indian Air Force Hawk advanced jet trainer has apparently attributed the crash 90 per cent to pilot error. The remaining ten per cent has been attributed to questionable performance of the Hawk AJT's "regulated take-off" thrust setting.
According to the investigation, the pilots were not supposed to have engaged regulated take-off for the training sortie (something the people at BAE Systems have also apparently testified to the inquiry team). At the same time, the report says that under no circumstances should the regulated take-off setting have resulted in an accident.
A miscommunication over radio between the two pilots and between the pilots and ATC have also been suggested as a possible contributor to the accident. |
