The Indian Air Force lost one of its brightest pilots in the November 21 crash at the Dubai Airshow. Wing Commander Namansh Syal was performing a series of aerobatic manoeuvres on the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas when, for reasons yet unknown, it flew into the ground and exploded in a fireball.

For IAF veterans, the tragic crash brought back tragic memories of the 1989 Indian Air Force Day display which killed Wing Commander Ramesh ‘Joe’ Bakshi. Wing Commander Bakshi’s Mirage 2000 went into an unrecoverable spin during a series of vertical rolls called the ‘Downward Charlie’ and plunged into the ground killing the pilot and a bystander.

A court of inquiry is underway, and it will establish the full facts of the incident in Dubai. What is known, however, is that the Tejas is an o

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