Su-30 MKI

[Yusuf]

Very sad news this. We cannot afford crashes of our premier fighter. I'm sure the pilots will be blamed as usual. Thank God there was no loss if lives.
Anyone with any infomation as to how many Su 30s have crashed over all in the world in how many flight hours? And how does it compare with others?

 

[Quickgun Murugan]

Pilot error or engine snag? Nonetheless a costly bird lost. Thank god pilot is safe

 

[Daredevil]

Damn! not another one. IS this again the problem of some switch??. Good grace that the pilots have survived.

 

[K Factor]

AFAIK, this is the second MKI to crash, and that brings it on par with the F-22 Raptor's (somewhat dubious) record. Yusuf, these crashes are not due to airframe fatigue for sure. Could be something with the mission computer (as I heard that there were some minor glitches, related to last MKI crash), or it could really be pilot error.

 

[bengalraider]

The sukhois first started getting inducted 12odd yrs ago does anyone know how old this bird was?

 

[proud_hindustani]

That's just sad to know. Is this due to unqualified pilot or error in combat aircrafts. High number of IAF battle aircrafts crash reflect poor training / bad quality of our pilot. It's shame for me and indian people that we get mocked by other people that our IAF is poorly trained and won't stand properly against pakistan (

 

[hit&run]

Sabotaged, Sabotaged

Enemies of India at large, From Arjun, Dhruv, Agni II, nuclear leak and this MKI.

Feel free to condemn in detail but i will speak what i want even if it seems *****ic,
We are too soft to be targeted, Our ammunition depots were sabotaged during post parliament attack army stand off.

Possibility can not be ruled out.

 

[venkat]

Sabotage Possibility can not be ruled out.But we have to wait for details. is this procured directly from Russia or HAL made? last one crashed due to FBW failure(!!!)...apparently it flew for 45 min or so before it crashed....its on some firing excercise as per news reports.
Any way pilots are safe!

 

[Yusuf]

Yes Kommie, I know about the 2 MKI crashes. I was asking about the Su30 family in general anywhere in the world. Just to see if there is a crash record for this fighter.

 

[venkat]

Yusuf bhai! there are no known crashes for SU-27 AKA SU30. the last known crash was that of su-27 crash during Paris Airshow @LEBOURGET,few years ago. Crashes in Russia are not reported I believe during 90s.

 

[Yusuf]

Means it has had a good record over the years.
So things to ponder over. Was this a russian supplied one or HAL manufactured one? Either way, the quality of the manufacturing has to be evaluated. Second is the training practice of the IAF. but then we have had these for a decade and more now and no incidents till the first crash this year. So what has suddenly changed?

 

[bhramos]

Crash records of Su-30 are may be only this two. and Crash records of Su-27 are almost 10 reported in Wikipedia.
I'm surprised that IAF is able to handle 50 yr old baby Hawk Hunter at flying stage perfectly and could not be able to handle less then 10 yr old Sukhoi.
their is definatly some thing Black in this accident!!!

 

[sayareakd]

this is very bad phase for Indian defence establishment, so many bad news.....

 

[bhramos]

Report of 1st Su-30MKI Crash

FBW-FCS—designed to be a fail-safe system

Within 72 hours of the fatal crash of an IAF Su-30MKI on April 30, it was theoretically deduced by experimental test pilots attached to Russia’s Sukhoi OKB that only a catastrophic failure of the aircraft’s digital redundant fly-by-wire flight control system (FBW-FCS) would have caused loss of flight control and the consequent crash. But what could not be explained until recently was under exactly what circumstances would a redundant FBW-FCS—designed to be a fail-safe system—not deliver as advertised. And the answer could not have come from Sukhoi OKB simply because it, in case of the Su-30MKI, was responsible for only prescribing the flight control envelopes of the aircraft for both conventional flight profiles as well as for those involving supermanoeuvrability. What the OKB could not monitor or enforce was the operational flight regime of the Su-30MKI. And if initial findings of the IAF-instituted Board of Inquiry (BoI) are to be believed, the crashed Su-30MKI’s loss of flight control can now be pinned down, with a high degree of probability, to the FBW-FCS (see the block diagram above) suffering catastrophic failure as a result of non-prescribed usage of the aircraft’s FBW-FCS regime, which in turn had probably caused loss of the aircraft’s directional control (attached above is a brief explanation of the Su-30MKI’s FBW-FCS as appearing in the aircraft’s technical manual).

What now remains to be seen is whether the BoI will clearly disclose why exactly IAF HQ had not taken any disciplinary steps to curb at a much earlier stage the non-prescribed usage of the aircraft’s FBW-FCS-based flight regime during operational flying training at the squadron-level, and why exactly such uncompromising instructions were not made mandatory during the operational flight conversion phase. It also remains to be seen if IAF HQ will at last officially acknowledge the fact that had it procured Su-30MKI tactical flight simulators six years ago, it would have been better positioned to enforce operational flight discipline among those air warriors who were destined for the Su-30MKI squadrons. Therefore, the only consolation for those interested in the IAF’s well-being for now is that the Su-30MKI remains a reliable and formidable air dominance platform, but at the same time its end-user now needs more than ever to enforce a mandatory regime of operational flying discipline by whatever means possible, and acknowledging that even fail-safe solutions have a certain threshold of tolerance when it comes to sustaining abusive usage.—Prasun K. Sengupta

TRISHUL: May 2009

 

[Vladimir79]

this is very bad phase for Indian defence establishment, so many bad news.....

Don't sweat it, the pilots are just fine and you have your own production line. Just add two more and learn from the mistakes to tell your pilots.

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

Can someone have any idea which one of the SU30MKI got crashed? The Russian one or that assembled at HAL.

Why we have frequent crash of Russian Fighter Planes? Is it because of maintenance problem, pilot training or anything else? When it comes to Mirage 2000 or Jaguar IAF has a very good record compared to Russian fighters.

 

[tarunraju]

As a Sukhoi fanboi, I feel extremely butthurt, and suspect bad maintainance, or ill-trained pilots for this $55 million loss. Eagerly awaiting results of an inquiry.

 

[plugwater]

thank god the pilots are safe.

 

[jakojako777]

Su-30MKI fighter jet crashes in western India, pilots survive

Su-30MKI fighter jet crashes in western India, pilots survive

An Indian Su-30MKI fighter jet crashed on Monday near Jaisalmer in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, but both pilots survived, an Air Force spokesman said.

"The aircraft crashed during an ongoing exercise. Both pilots ejected safely and were not injured," the official said.

The incident was the second since the Russian-made Su-30MKI was put into service with the Indian Air Force in 2002, and occurred five days after Indian President Pratibha Patil flew in a two-seat Su-30MKI jet for 30 minutes.

The first Su-30MKI crashed in April during a routine training flight near a village 170 kilometers (105 miles) from Jaisalmer, killing one of its two pilots.

Russia sent in May a group of 20 experts to examine the wreckage of the plane and help the Indian Air Force with the investigation, but the results of the probe have not been disclosed.

The Indian Air Force originally ordered 50 SU-30MKI aircraft from Russia in 1996-98 and an additional 40 planes in 2007. Hindustani Aeronautics (HAL) was also contracted to build 140 aircraft in India between 2003 and 2017 under a licensed production agreement.

The Indian military said after the April accident it was satisfied with the performance of Russian Su-30MKI fighters, despite the crash, and planned to double the number in service with the air force to at least 230 by 2015.

NEW DELHI, November 30 (RIA Novosti)

 

[Parashuram1]

I assume that there might have been a sabotage. Word has it that Indian politics is the worst and that India has more enemies inside than outside her borders. Therefore, I don't doubt if this is some new ploy to get more kickbacks by corrupt commanders.

I wonder how are you people going to hold off against Chinese in a future war if this is the condition of your air force.