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BOARD OF INQUIRY INTO WORST TRAGEDY OF INDIAN NAVAL AVIATION HISTORY BY GERRAD FERNANDES VASCO, Oct 1 -- Flag Officer Goa Naval Area and Flag Officer Naval Aviation Rear Admr. S. K. Damle while speaking to media persons at INS Gomantak this evening confirmed the number of casualties and expressed grief over the incident. Rd. Admr. Damle said a board of inquiry has been constituted to identify the exact cause of the incident. He said it could be technical failure or even human error and further went on to state that the planes were flying parallel, when their wings got entangled and said "this could be human error". Narating the incident he stated that the incident took place at 9.45 am just minutes after the ceremonial fly past was over which was witnessed by Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Pasriacha and other senior naval officer including those involved in the commissioning of Illyusin 38 and ex-aviators. Describing the Illyushin 38, Rear Adm. Damle pointed out that it was commissined in the year 1977 and had undergone overhauling during 1996-99. One is presently been refurbish in Russia he said while pointing out that the longevity of the aircraft could be even 2015. The Illyusin 38 has its base in Goa for the entire country and was among the five that were imported from Russia and was navigated by experienced crew belonging to the Indian Navy, the FOGA said. He further stated that the Illyusin 38 had an illustrious track record of 30,000 flying hours besides a never-before mishap recod. At the time of the incident Illyusin 38 with Frame No. 304 had seven occupants including the two pilots while Illyusin 38 with Frame No. 302 had five occupants including two pilots, all who were reported dead during the mid-air collision. He also pointed out that the Indian Navy had an excellent track record as far as mishaps were concerned as compared to foreign countries. In regard to the compensation to the family members of the deceased naval personnel and the civilians , Admr. Damle stated that the government has its own guidelines which would be followed as far as compensation is concerned. WORST HISTORY OF INDIAN NAVAL AVIATION A board of inquiry has been constituted to probe the mishap, considered one of the worst in the history of indian naval aviation. The inquiry has been ordered into the collision which took place on completion of the flypast run over the naval airfield here. Over the last 25 years, the air squadron which provides `search and rescue cover' over the Indian ocean region, to meet any exigency at sea, had achieved nearly 30,000 hours of accident- free flying. During the Maldives political crisis, the squadron was pressed into service to augment India's efforts in restoring peace in the island-nation and its IL-38 aircraft was instrumental in locating the merchant vessel `Progress Light' that was being used by the rebels to escape after their abortive coup attempt. (ENDS) =================================================================== To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e-mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead! ===================================================================
