Formation flying crucial for air forces: 1967 copter crash survivor

AHMEDABAD: Not many know that the Indian Air Force (IAF) had suffered a similar setback as the recent one involving its two helicopters in Jamnagar, 45 years ago in West Bengal too. Nine IAF personnel were killed in Jamnagar mid-air collision between two Mi-17 helicopters during a "live firing exercise" at the Sarmat field range near Jamnagar airbase on Thursday last.
In the mid-air collision between IAF helicopters doing formation flying at Hashimara on June 7, 1967, six IAF personnel had lost their lives. Group Captain (retd) RS Chauhan, 70, was the leader of the three helicopters that were doing formation flying then. He and his co-pilot were lucky to survive in the accident.
The IAF came out with a standard operating procedure for formation flying for helicopters only after the Hashimara accident. This is because helicopters came to be introduced for large-scale use only after World War II and there is no escape from formation flying in the air forces. This maneuver is an integral part of a defensive and offensive strategy of any air force in spite of the risk of mid-air collision lurking behind. A Shaurya Chakra winner with 23,000 hours of flying experience in 50 years, Chauhan said there is no room for error during formation flying. Yet the accidents can happen for several factors despite best of efforts to avoid them. He said during formation flying, the number 1 in the team has a defined course being the leader. The others have to follow the leader and fly 'above all the obstacles.'
Chauhan, who has the distinction of having flown Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda when on lien to Zambian Air Force for three years and trained a former chief of air staff in flying Mi-8 helicopter, said normally the possibility of the leader committing the mistake is minimal. The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder of the copters involved in Jamnagar accidents have been reportedly recovered. They will be examined and re-examined over several months to reach a conclusion during the ongoing court of inquiry into the recent accident, he said. Chauhan was commissioned in the IAF in December 1963 and has flown 23 types of rotor and fixed wing aircraft.