New Delhi: The MiG 27 fighters, which
were grounded in February after a crash, have resumed
operational flights following clearance by the Indian Air
Force.
"The aircraft were cleared for flying operations after
certain checks were carried out on the engines of the aircraft
by us and the original equipment manufacturers from Russia,"
IAF sources told PTI here.
The IAF had to ground its fleet of MiG 27s for around
four months following a crash near Hashimara in West Bengal on
February 16 in which an ace fighter pilot was killed.
After the crash, over 100 single-seater variants of
the fleet were grounded due to problems in the R-29 engines of
the aircraft.
The two-seater trainer variants of the aircraft
remained operational as they are equipped with different
engines than in the single-seater variant.
The IAF operates eight squadrons of these
Russian-origin swing-wing aircraft for both air-to-air and
ground attacks.
After the crash in February, the IAF had ordered an
investigation to look in the causes behind the mishap and the
preliminary findings suggested that it could have taken place
due to failure of "low pressure turbine blades" in the engine.
The aircraft were inducted into the IAF in the 1980s
and are likely to be gradually replaced by the 126 multirole
combat aircraft.
PTI
