IAF pilot dies as Tejas jet crashes during display at Dubai Airshow

Second known peacetime incident involving Indian-made combat jet

An Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter pilot, Wing Commander Namansh Syal, died during a demonstration of the Tejas jet he was flying on the last day of this year’s Dubai Airshow on Friday. The IAF confirmed the crash and said it regretted the loss of life. 

A court of inquiry will study the incident, which the IAF has called an accident in its immediate social media post. 

“An IAF Tejas aircraft met with an accident during an aerial display at the Dubai Airshow. The pilot sustained fatal injuries in the accident,” the IAF said on X. “A court of inquiry is being constituted to ascertain the cause of the accident.” Smoke appeared and an explosion was heard by the crowds in Dubai, according to Gulf News, which said that the airshow (held biennially since 1986) had temporarily halted on Friday. 

The United Arab Emirates’ authorities said in social media posts that emergency and firefighting teams responded rapidly to manage the situation in the aftermath of the crash. 

This is the second-known peacetime incident, involving a Tejas, the 4.5-generation fighter jet manufactured by the Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. 

The first crash was reported during an exercise in Rajasthan last year. The pilot was safe. The Tejas line has both one-seat and two-seat combat aircraft that are used by the IAF and the Indian Navy. The engine is provided by the US company General Electric. A single-seat Tejas crashed in Dubai on Friday. 

But this is the fifth peacetime crash of an IAF jet in 2025 so far. Four IAF fighter jets crashed during training earlier this year.  A two-seat Jaguar crashed in Rajasthan on July 9, killing both pilots. One pilot died and another was injured in a two-seat Jaguar crash in Gujarat on April 2. 

The pilots managed to eject safely in the crashes in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh on March 7 and February 25, respectively. An IAF paratrooper from its skydiving team died after crash-landing during a demonstration in Uttar Pradesh on April 5. The one Mirage and two Jaguar crashes were categorised as most severe. Jet accidents or incidents are placed in categories, depending on the extent of damage. 

India has lost hundreds of military aircraft in peacetime crashes over the past 40 years. But the IAF’s safety record has improved, defence analysts have said. 

The accident rate of fighter jets in India has declined from a peak of 0.93 (2000-2005) to 0.27 (2017-2022) and 0.20 (2020-2024), a 2024-25 report of the parliamentary standing committee on defence, shows. The rate is 0.20 for every 10,000 flying hours. 

Ageing aircraft, human error related to aircrew and maintenance, technical fault, and natural challenges in an operational environment were found as causes for accidents in the past. 

According to the committee’s report, last year, the IAF had 238 basic, intermediate and advanced trainer aircraft, against a sanctioned strength of 368, which showed a deficiency of 130 aircraft.