In the end, its the Soldier’s Family that has to Cry

“Sir, why does the soldier’s family have to cry every time?” said a young women who just lost her husband who was flying the BSF ‘s B 200 Super King  when it crashed into a compound wall in Delhi on 22nd December 2015. “Why sir? Why wasn’t it a VIP plane? Why were they given such an old plane? It was an old aircraft. This is not right. Sir, please answer me. No, I want an answer right now,” she wept.

The question the young lady asked seems to be valid! Why is it that it’s the soldiers family that has to cry! Over the last one year, they have been over 10 air-crashes, in India alone. None of these 10 crashes have involved any of the politicians or VIPs.

To give a glimpse of the various air-crash that have occurred in India over the last year, below are a few headlines-

• Army aircraft crashes in Meghalaya, two injured ( 21st October 2015)
• IAF aircraft crashes in Allahabad, pilots eject safely (16th June 2015)
• IAF fighter aircraft crashes in Orissa, (3rd June 2015)
• Mig 21 fighter aircraft crashes in J&K (24th August 2015)
• Indian Air Force’s Mig-27, crashes in West Bengal (8th May 2015)
• Air Force’s Jaguar crashes in Haryana (5th Match 2015)
• Mig-21 Crashes in Jamnagar (31st January 2015)
• Cost Guards Dornier goes missing over Arabian Sea (24th March 2015)

The list seems endless.

Barring a few incidents involving pilot error, the cause of most of the air-crashes involving military aircraft are faulty equipment or/and engine failure. And the core reason behind this is Old Aircraft.

It is really absurd to see politicians fight over silly issues, threaten each other, play blame games; when precious lives of military personnel are being lost due to old aircraft.

Military personnel took an oath while joining the Armed Forces to serve the nation in both good and bad times. To put their lives at risk to protect their motherland. Its high time the government rewards these warriors through new and better quality aircraft, for their commitment towards their nation, rather than condemn and mourn the lost life.