Pilot dies as IAF’s Tejas fighter jet crashes during Dubai Air Show

A Tejas fighter jet of the Indian Air Force crashed in a ball of fire on Friday during an aerial display at the Dubai Air Show killing the lone pilot, in the second accident involving the indigenous multi-role Light Combat Aircraft in less than two years.
The pilot was identified as Wg Cdr Namansh Syal, who is in his mid-30s and hails from Himachal Pradesh, according to available accounts.
As the crash inside the grounds of an airfield in Dubai cast a tragic shadow on an otherwise mega spectacle on the last day of the event in the desert city, video footage of the accident showed the jet abruptly dropping height after what looked like a low-altitude manoeuvre and then nosedived into the ground in a matter of seconds before being engulfed in a ball of fire.
Black smoke billowed over the Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central, as horrified spectators, including women and children, assembled in large numbers at a grand stand area behind a fenced airstrip watched in shock.
The single-engine light weight aircraft crashed around 2:10 pm local time(3.40 pm IST) after the pilot had flown across the site of the prestigious air show in Dubai during the demonstration flight. The aerial display of Tejas was scheduled to last eight minutes.
“An IAF Tejas aircraft met with an accident during an aerial display at Dubai Air Show, today. The pilot sustained fatal injuries in the accident.
“IAF deeply regrets the loss of life and stands firmly with the bereaved family in this time of grief. A court of inquiry is being constituted, to ascertain the cause of the accident,” the IAF said in a brief statement posted on its X handle.
State-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the manufacturer of the Light Combat Aircraft(LCA), said it was deeply saddened by the loss of life of the “courageous IAF pilot”.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he was deeply anguished at the loss of a “brave and courageous IAF pilot”.
“My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. The nation stands firmly with the family in this tragic hour,” he said in a post of X.