Saras Crash: Three IAF Pilots Die
3 IAF Pilots DIE in SARAS CRASH
Bangalore: Three Indian Air Force (IAF) test pilots died Friday when the prototype aircraft Saras of the state-run National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) crashed near Bidadi, about 30 km from Bangalore, IAF sources said.
“The Saras aircraft, which took off from the HAL airport in the city at 2.55 p.m. on a test flight, crashed around 4.05 p.m. in a field near Bidadi on the outskirts of the city. The Bangalore rural police told us all the three pilots died after the aircraft caught fire,” an official of the IAF’s aircraft systems & testing establishment (ASTE) told IANS on phone.
The deceased pilots were Squadron Leader Ilairaj, Wing Commander Praveen and Wing Commander Shah.
The 14-seater multi-role Saras is an indigenous aircraft, designed and developed by the Bangalore-based NAL for use by the military and civil aviation sector. NAL is a constituent of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
“The new version of the aircraft was on a regular test flight. It had a smooth take-off from the HAL runway where ASTE is located. About an hour later, the aircraft lost contact with our air traffic control (ATC). We learnt about the crash from the police,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
The IAF has rushed a rescue team by helicopter to the crash site.
“The Saras aircraft, which took off from the HAL airport in the city at 2.55 p.m. on a test flight, crashed around 4.05 p.m. in a field near Bidadi on the outskirts of the city. The Bangalore rural police told us all the three pilots died after the aircraft caught fire,” an official of the IAF’s aircraft systems & testing establishment (ASTE) told IANS on phone.
The deceased pilots were Squadron Leader Ilairaj, Wing Commander Praveen and Wing Commander Shah.
The 14-seater multi-role Saras is an indigenous aircraft, designed and developed by the Bangalore-based NAL for use by the military and civil aviation sector. NAL is a constituent of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
“The new version of the aircraft was on a regular test flight. It had a smooth take-off from the HAL runway where ASTE is located. About an hour later, the aircraft lost contact with our air traffic control (ATC). We learnt about the crash from the police,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
The IAF has rushed a rescue team by helicopter to the crash site.
Indian Aviation 
When India can send a craft to the moon why have they not been able to develop successfully the LCA , SARAS and the Arjun.
Is it all because of massive and large scale corruption in the system…. ?If it is so this thing is going to hurt us badly in too distant future.
Hi Ashwin,
I have planned to update all aviation details and info in http://www.aviatingindia.com
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Anand
yea rite buddy.. this has to stop.. but still This is INDIA.. corruptions stays..
not because curruption it is due to lack of budget to develop aircraft bcoz of low budget from government engineers r forced to use cheap aircraft components due which these type of incident occur, if corruption was an issue then hal was not able manufacture sukhoi 30 mki ever
HAL,NAL r the premier aerospace manufacturers in asia they have reputed coustmer like ,AIRBUS,BOEING,EMBARAER,EUROCOPTER,SUKHOI,MIG etc , only due to low budget we r not able to develop aircraft on time an delays occur , if u see the history u will find tht other company have more incidents like this and by the way ” failure is first step toward success ” unless and until u fail u will not able to succeed and LCA is fully completed only waiting for flight clearance from IAF,lca likely to be induct in IAF and navy in year 2010, and hal has started work on development of MCA which will be fifth generation aircraft , major problem is tht engineers from reputed institutions like IIT work for foreign company rather working for our countries.
and some project on which hal & drdo r working and completed
1.LCA(TEJAS) 4.5 generation aircraft
2.MCA(medium combat aircraft ) 5th generation aircraft
3.AVATAR(reusable spacecraft like space shuttle)
4.light combat helicopter
5.SURYA ICBM MISSILE(range 5000-10000 km)
6.BRAHMOS MISSILE
7. ARJUN TANK
8.NUCLEAR SUBMARINE(ATV)
9.AIRCRAFT CARRIER
10. HAL DHRUV
11. NAG MISSILE
12.SAGARIKA MISSILE
13. SHAURYA MISSILE(HYPERSONIC MISSILE)
14.AKASH MISSILE
15.PRITHVI 1,2 MISSILES
16. AGNI 1,2,3 MISSILES
17.DHANUSH
18.INSAS ASSAULT RIFFLE
19.PINAKA MISSILE SYSTEM
20.INTERMEDIATE JET TRAINER
So dont think tht indian research organisation had not done or developed anything , im proud on indian research organisation which have proved tht even with limited budget we r capable of developing world class technology by its own even when countries like U.S.A has imposed embargo on india tht india cannot use another countries technology for their project , india is only country which has developed every technology by its ow
dude,this is just amazing.. thanks for the info.. u have so much of info from your side.. thanks for sharing.. and by the ways what is your blog all about.. let me know the link..
some more projects from drdo,HAL,NAL
1.UAV AJEET
2.KAVERI JET ENGINE
3.ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT FOR WEPON SYSTEM
3.HF MARUT (DECOMISSIONED FROM IAF)
4.SPY SATTELITES
5. AIRCRAFT DESIGN SOFTWARE LICENSED TO AIRBUS AND INFOSYS
etc
you shoild know tht drdo have budget of $2.9 bn annually from which they pay salary to theirr current 30000 employee along with research cost and development . take example of USA whoseresearchers annual budget is equal to 7 years of India’s economy
hi anand im just an engineering student , i was diappointed by some people tht india has nothing to be proud of but its wrong indian organisation r working hard to develop these things and 90% of all projects have been completed many projects have completed and they r used by our defence forces
oh.. sounds great manoj..
i dont think the problem is of bubget. the problem lies with our work culture. HAL, NAL, DRDO are all typically indian goverment organisations. here only burocracy works. If any one wants to do serious R&D work, there are ten others who pull him down. There is no dirth of brains in our country. this has been proven beyond doubt by our people working in Silicon valley etc.. tomorrow you privatise these organisations and you will see things changing. none of the fellows employed by these organisations would like the idea of privatisation, as privatisation means ‘work’, ‘targets’, ‘goals’ etc……so when you are getting paid without work, then WHY WORK??? WAKE UP INDIANS……AT LEAST NOW
The sarus crash is a classical example of poor R&D work by the HAL. both the test pilots dead in this crash have been good friens of mine. i i know them to be professionals of the highest order. HAL must do adequate R&D work before resorting to flying the aircraft in air. and now that you now with LCA no where in the Sky. ALH project has failed and Saras no where on the horizon, HAL must close their shop…atleast dont waste my hard earned money which i paid as tax to the govt………..