The Indian Air Force (IAF) has cleared the fleet of Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft for flying after it was grounded a month back following a crash near Pune.
“The Sukhoi-30 fleet has been cleared for flying,” IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Simranpal Singh Birdi said.
The Court of Enquiry into the accident is still going on and is in the final stages but the IAF has expressed satisfaction over the safety checks that have been carried out on all 200 Sukhoi-30 MKI jets, sources said.
This is the longest period that the aircraft of Russian origin has been grounded since 2009 when its operation was suspended for nearly three weeks following an accident.
“This (Pune crash on October 14) was an accident which appeared to be automatic firing of the seats. Court of Inquiry is about to be complete and the findings are being finalised,” IAF chief Air Marshal Arup Raha had told reporters.
Raha said that “preliminary findings” do indicate that they have been able to find the reason and “we will be able to tackle the problem without much issue”.
A team of 10 experts from Russia is currently in Pune, the Sukhoi-30 base, probing the crash with both the pilot seats ejecting without any command during landing on the fateful day. The pilots were safe but the aircraft crashed about 20 km short of the runway.