ISLAMABAD: The Indian Air Force’s most admired yet controversial fighter jet, the MiG-21, is preparing to bow out after nearly 63 years of service.
Once celebrated as a symbol of speed and strength, the aircraft now carries a grim epithet “the flying coffin”—a title it earned after a string of deadly accidents, NDTV reported.
What happened?
India inducted the Soviet-designed aircraft in 1963, at a time when its blistering speed and rapid climb gave it an edge in combat.
Over the following decades, the MiG-21 was central to almost every conflict India fought, from the 1965 war with Pakistan to later operations.
But its long service record also carried a heavy toll. Official data shows that between 1971-72 and April 2012, there were 482 recorded crashes of MiG variants, resulting in the deaths of 171 pilots, 39 civilians, eight service personnel and one aircrew.
Many of the accidents were attributed to both technical flaws and human error. Figures have not been updated since then.
“The MiG-21 has a chequered legacy. The fighter was the mainstay of the IAF for over three decades and served in various roles in all of India’s conflicts since the 1965 Pakistan war,” observed Rahul Bhatia, an analyst at Eurasia Group said in an interview with the BBC.
“However, starting in the early 2000s, the fighter became better known for its high crash rate. Pilots look back at the MiG-21 fondly, but the aircraft stayed in service far longer than it should have,” he added.
A paradox
Globally, the MiG-21 was one of the most widely used supersonic jets, flown by more than 50 air forces, including those of China, Egypt, Iraq, and Vietnam.
In India, however, it became a paradox: an aircraft remembered as both an icon of military might and a machine that extracted a devastating cost.
Pilots describe the experience of flying it as exhilarating but punishing. Its narrow cockpit, designed for Russian winters, often turned into an oven in India’s summer heat. “Most of the sorties I flew were around 30 minutes long, so the discomfort was bearable. In the end, however, it was all part of the game and still enjoyable,” recalled retired Air Marshal Vinod K Bhatia told the BBC.
