An official representative of the Indian Navy said that on the morning of October 12, 2022, a Russian-made MiG-29K naval fighter of Indian naval aviation crashed near Goa in the sea. The plane was returning to the Indian Navy Airbase Hansa (Dabolim) near Goa from a planned training flight, but due to a technical malfunction it fell into the sea. The pilot successfully ejected and was picked up by the search and rescue service.
MiG-29K shipboard fighter (tail number IN817) of the Indian Navy aviation on the deck of the new Indian aircraft carrier Vikrant, 2022 (c) PTIThis is the fifth loss of the MiG-29K series fighter aircraft of the Indian Navy.
The first loss of this type of aircraft in the Indian Navy aviation occurred on January 3, 2018, when an Indian MiG-29K crashed during takeoff at the Hansa Airbase, the pilot successfully ejected.
On November 16, 2019, shortly after takeoff from the Hansa Airbase, a two-seat MiG-29KUB shipboard fighter crashed, both Indian pilots successfully ejected. The cause of the accident was called a collision of an airplane with a flock of birds, with birds getting into the engine and a subsequent fire.
On February 23, 2020, during a training flight from the Hansa Airbase, a single-seat MiG-29K fighter crashed over the sea, the pilot successfully ejected.
On November 26, 2020, a two-seat MiG-29KUB fighter crashed in the Arabian Sea during flights from the Indian aircraft carrier R 33 Vikramaditya . One of the pilots of the plane ejected and was rescued, and the second (instructor Commander Nishant Singh) was killed.
In total, under the contracts of 2004 and 2010, the Indian Navy received 45 MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB naval fighters (9-41 and 9-47) manufactured by JSC RSC MIG, which were delivered from 2009 to 2016. These aircraft are in service with the 300th and 303rd Squadrons of the Indian Naval Aviation at the Hansa Air Base (Dabolim) in Goa.
From the bmpd side, we note that there has been an obvious increase in the accident rate of MiG-29K/KUB fighters in recent years against the background of ongoing systemic complaints from the Indian side about quality problems and technical support for both the aircraft themselves and their engines. Since the beginning of the MiG-29K's entry into service with the Indian Navy aviation, the serviceability of their fleet does not exceed half. RSC MIG has been showing a strange indifference and lack of energy and competence in relation to the main current operator of its aircraft for years. Obviously, against the background of what is happening in Ukraine, this does not improve the reputation of Russian military equipment in the eyes of Indian partners, despite their desire to continue military-technical cooperation with Russia.
