IAF’s Hawk aircraft crashes at Kalaikunda airbase in Bengal; pilots eject safely.

IAF’s Hawk Aircraft Crashes At Kalaikunda Airbase

One Hawk aircraft of the IAF met with an accident at Kalaikunda, West Bengal during a training sortie. Both the pilots ejected safely. There has been no loss of life or damage to civilian property on ground. A Court of Inquiry has been constituted to find out the cause of the accident. The Hawk trainer aircraft is a jet-powered advanced trainer used by various air forces around the world, including the IAF. Manufactured by BAE Systems, the Hawk is designed to provide training to pilots transitioning to high-performance fighter aircraft.

It features a tandem-seat cockpit arrangement, allowing an instructor pilot to fly alongside a trainee, providing guidance and instruction during training missions.

Father-daughter duo Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma, a seasoned fighter pilot in the IAF and Flying Officer Ananya Sharma, commissioned as a fighter pilot in December 2021, created history in the annals of the IAF by flying as part of the same fighter formation.

BAE Systems Hawk

The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. It was first known as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and BAE Systems. It has been used in a training capacity and as a low-cost combat aircraft.

First flight: 21 August 1974

Introduction: 1976

Primary users: Royal Air Force

Indian Air Force

Finnish Air Force

Indonesian Air Force

Trainer Aircraft of IAF

•HAL HPT-32 Deepak

•HTT-40

•HAL HJT-16 Kiran mk.I

•BAE Hawk Mk 132

•Pipistrel Virus