Mirage 2000-Su-30 MKI Mid-Air Collision: Initial Findings Of Investigation Into The Accident Submitted To Air Force

The findings of the Court of Inquiry (CoI) of a mid-air collision between two Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets, a SU-30MKI and a Mirage-2000, will be sent to the Air Headquarters, reported The Hindu.

An official stated that the CoI is finished and the revelations are with Command. Once it has gone through the necessary formalities (which involve review by the legal team) it will then be delivered to the Air Headquarters.

At the Gwalior air base in Madhya Pradesh on 28 January, two Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jets, as well as a Mirage 2000, set off for a close combat training mission.

Shortly after, the Mirage suffered a mid-air collision with Sukhoi-30 in Morena, which caused the death of the Mirage pilot Wing Commander Hanumanth Rao Sarathi.

The Sukhoi carried on and eventually went down in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, giving the two pilots enough time to get out. Consequently, a CoI with an Air Commodore at its helm was quickly started.

The pilots of the third Sukhoi-30 that had been performing close-combat manoeuvres with the two jets that collided mid-air witnessed the entire incident.

The reports of these two pilots in addition to the flight data recorders, as well as the reports of the two pilots who were able to eject safely, will be key for the investigation.

The reason for the incident will be further detailed in the investigation's results.

Gwalior's air base is home to the IAF's Mirage-2000 planes and Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment, which is similar to the 'Top Gun' Academy of the US Navy.