New Delhi, March 23
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal S. Krishnaswamy, today categorically stated that there was not even one unairworthy combat plane in the Indian Air Force (IAF) fleet and that his pilots were not flying unairworthy planes.

Air Chief Marshal Krishnaswamy’s statement came two days after a parliamentary committee demanded phasing out of old fighter aircraft because of a large number of accidents. The IAF has earlier also faced flak as a result of the large number of accidents, especially in the ageing fleet of the MiGs.

“No pilot of mine is flying an unairworthy plane. I can assure you that we have no unairworthy plane in the IAF,” the Air Chief told reporters after speaking at a conference on the Air Traffic Management organised by the Aeronautical Society of India here.

He said he had not seen the report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which said unabated accidents involving fighter aircraft, MiG variants in particular, underscored the need for replacing the ageing fleet and the immediate induction of the AJT.

The Air Chief said he had great respect for the PAC and highly regarded the body. “But as far as I am concerned, I have full confidence in the aircraft we fly.” He is the second Air Chief to go on record that the MiG variants with the IAF, especially the MiG-21s, are still fit to fly.

Even Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis (retd) had advocated for the MiGs and had in fact said that they would continue with the IAF till at least 2010.

Emphasising that there were no problems with the MiG-21, the mainstay of the force, Air Chief Marshal Krishnaswamy said the technical life of each plane was fixed and the IAF made sure that every fighter met the requirements for flying.