Taylor ‘Fema’ Hiester, commander of USAF F-16 Viper Demo Team, hit out at air show organisers for continuing with the show after Wing Commander Namansh Syal lost his life in the incident.
Speaking to ThePrint, Salman Akram urges dignity in tragedy, recalling the loss of his brother, Wing Commander Nauman Akram, in similar crash & the mockery his family faced after.
The Indian Air Force confirmed his demise after a Tejas aircraft crashed & burst into flames at the Dubai Air Show 2025 Friday. Syal is survived by his wife, 6 yr-old daughter & his parents.
Airshows are thrilling spectacles of aviation skill and engineering marvels. But they carry inherent risks as the crew is pushing the aircraft, and themselves, to perform at the edges of the envelope.
It is a brilliant, reasonably priced, and mostly homemade aircraft with a stellar safety record; only two crashes in 24 years since its first flight. But its crash is a moment of introspection.
While the IAF remains committed to the Tejas programme and has placed orders for 180 Tejas Mk1A, the force is eagerly waiting for the Tejas Mk 2 version.
There were no plans to have Mk1A version. However, compromise was reached between HAL & IAF in 2015 since original plan for getting Mk2 would've been time-consuming affair.
Of the 40 Tejas Mk-1 aircraft ordered—comprising 16 IOC single-seaters, 16 FOC single-seaters & 8 twin-seat trainers—IAF has received 38 with two trainers yet to be delivered.
For an industry globally classified as hazardous, protections such as health insurance and a provident fund for workers are necessities. In Sivakasi, they remain elusive.
The industry forecasts exports are set to grow 16% in 2025-26, boosted by surplus domestic production and a drive to push into 26 underserved global markets with strong potential.
Indigenisation level will progressively increase up to 60 percent with key sub-assemblies, electronics and mechanical parts being manufactured locally.
It is a brilliant, reasonably priced, and mostly homemade aircraft with a stellar safety record; only two crashes in 24 years since its first flight. But its crash is a moment of introspection.
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