SU-30 jet defect located and will be fixed: Air Force chief

Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said that the Indian Air Force have been able to pinpoint technical defects in the Sukhoi-30 aircraft which they say resulted in a crash of one aircraft and the grounding of the fleet.

"The court of inquiry has not yet finalised the final findings. But preliminary findings we know and we know we will be able to tackle it. I don't want to tell you the exactly the reason, but we know the reason," said Raha.

Earlier, one Su-30 of the Indian Air Force (IAF) had crashed on October 14 when both seats of the aircraft were ejected as it was about to land. Both pilots ejected safely and no loss or injury to life has been reported.

After the incident, IAF had grounded the whole fleet of Sukhoi-30 MKI fighters.

Raha further added that they intend to start flying the aircraft in about a week.

The Sukhoi-30MK1 jet, which is one of the main aircrafts in the Indian Air Force, was introduced to the fleet in 1997 and has since then been considered safe. But the October 14 crash was the fifth in a series of Sukhoi crashes.

Raha said that the Sukhoi project with Russia is important for the Air Force.

"The Su-30 is a huge project, 270 plus numbers of aircrafts, we are acquiring from Russia. Of course, IAF has been involved in the final configurations of the aircraft called the Su-30 MKI Indian," Raha added.

India currently has 200 Sukhois in its fleet and 70 more jets have been ordered from the Russian manufacturer, but many of the jets in India have been reported to have made emergency landings due to malfunctions.