Staff from the Air Force Station, Sulur, inspecting the fallen fuel drop- tank

The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas’s flawless flight safety record was somewhat tarnished on Tuesday as a fuel drop tank fell off from an aircraft during a routine sortie.

A fuel drop tank of a Tejas aircraft (SP-4) fell off while the aircraft was on a flight from Sulur Air Base near Coimbatore.

“Today morning around 0840h one fuel drop tank fell off from a Tejas aircraft on a routine sortie from Sulur Air Base near Coimbatore. The aircraft landed back safely after the incident. No damage was reported on ground. The cause of the incident is being investigated,” IAF said in a statement.

Tuesday’s incident is a rare one involving the Tejas which has had a flawless flight record since its first flight in January 2001.

In the last 18 years, the aircraft has flown more than 4,500 stories and this is the first time a major incident has been reported.

The LCA project is one of the most delayed indigenous defence projects. The Ministry of Defence had initiated the project way back 1980’s to replace the ageing MiG-21’s and the Tejas’s development and production agencies have often been criticised for the delays in delivering the aircraft to the IAF. However, those involved in the project used to counter critics stating that no mishaps have taken place during any of the flights for close to two decades after it first flew. 

At 0840 hrs, one fuel drop tank fell off from a Tejas aircraft on a routine sortie. The aircraft landed back safely after the incident. No damage was reported on ground.

–IAF Statement

Sources in the Tejas’s development and production agencies said that Tuesday incident was a one off one and that it was not a cause of worry for them.

More than three decades after the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas program was conceived it finally became combat-ready earlier this year when it was accorded Final Operational Clearance (FOC) by the military aviation certifying agencies.

IAF has placed orders for 40 Tejas aircraft (16 fighters each in IOC and FOC and 8 trainers), of which HAL has rolled out 16.

The Tejas squadron 45 Squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Flying Daggers, is based at Sulur, near Coimbatore.