Jodhpur: There is no plan to induct women
fighter pilots in Indian Air Force in near future, Air Chief
Marshal P V Naik said here today.
"We are yet to study the induction of women as fighter
pilots by some countries including Pakistan. Moreover, it is a
decision which the IAF alone cannot take," Naik told reporters
on the sidelines of President Standard Presentation ceremony.
However, the IAF chief said "we have 790 women
officers in the IAF and some of them are also flying
helicopters and transport vehicles which is a matter of pride
for us".
Expressing concern over the fighter plane mishaps,
Naik said "losing a pilot is more worrisome for us instead of
losing a plane".
But he claimed that the IAF has succeeded in
bringing down the accidents in past some years.
"We are addressing the issue of human error, which is
one of the main reasons behind these crashes. But we need to
do a profound audit of these accidents and find a cause of
every accident," he said.
Naik said ageing of fighter plans was also an issue,
which needed to be addressed.
But he maintained that "the figure can never be zero".
On Medium Multi-role Combat Aircrafts (MMCA), Naik
said that the IAF had sent a requisition for 126 MMCAs. The
trial comprising three phases will be completed by April end.
"After that we will prepare our report to be submitted
to the government which will decide the further course of
action," Naik said.
-PTI
