IAF pilot killed in Surya Kiran plane crash

Bidar, Jan 21 (PTI) An Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter
pilot on a training sortie was killed when a Surya Kiran
trainer aircraft crashed here in India's southern state of
Karnataka Wednesday morning.

The pilot, who had joined the Surya Kiran Aerobatics
team recently, was on the Kiran Mk II trainer aircraft, when
the mishap occurred at 8.45 hours, IAF sources told PTI.

The aircraft took off from Bidar and the crash took place
a few minutes later at a vacant plot near the air force
station.

No loss of civilian life or property was reported due
to the crash, the sources said.

The Air Headquarters immediately ordered an inquiry
into the mishap.

This is the second fatal Surya Kiran air mishap in the
last six years, the previous one reported in March 2006 at the
same air base when two pilots were killed.

Surya Kiran Aerobatics Team (SKAT) -- formally
christened so in 1996 -- is just one of the four nine-aircraft
formation flying squads in the world and traces its history to
the IAF's Hunter aircraft formation flying squad, the
Thunderbolts of 1982.

It currently has 13 fighter pilots as part of its team
from the Mirage-2000, Jaguar, MiG-23 and MiG-27 streams.

For a fighter pilot to be a member of SKAT, he should be
a Qualified Flying Instructor and clocked at least 2,000 hours
of flying, of which about 1,000 hours should be on Kiran Mk II
aircraft.

The current Commanding Officer of SKAT is Wing Commander
Joy Thomas Kurien. PTI NCB
RKM