IAF Director General (Flight Safety) Air Marshal T S Randhawa told reporters on the sidelines of the International Flight Safety Conference that the IAF wanted to exchange data with other countries to improve its own flight safety record.

“We have asked the defence ministry to allow us to share air mishap reports and data with friendly air forces that operate the same inventory of aircraft as the IAF. This, we think, will help in bettering safety standards of the IAF,” Air Marshal Randhawa said.

At one time, IAF was reported to have some 600-plus Soviet-origin aircraft of the Mig series. There are just around one-third of them in service now, although more than 100 Su 30 MKI have been inducted to make for the force depletion. The oldest of the soviet origin combat jets, Mig 21s, Mig 21s and Mig 27s, have had to be mothballed as their Total Technical Life (TTL) as specified by the manufacturers has been over.

India inducted the first Mig 21 in 1964, and the aircraft proved its worth in the 1971 War with Pakistan. Top guns in the IAF, including Air Marshal Randhawa, Air Marshal Vinod Patney (Retd), Air Marshal Vinod Bhatia and Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi, who have flown thousands of hours in them, swear by the aircraft although of late, it had a rather high incidence of accidents, due mainly to its age and unavailability of spares and consumables for replacement.