The Light Combat Aircraft TEJAS that crashed during an aerobatic display at the Dubai Air Show was performing a complex manoeuvre involving negative G forces just moments before the accident.

Eyewitnesses and video evidence from the event suggest that the aircraft entered a downward segment of a loop and encountered a rapid loss of altitude while attempting to level out. The short time between the manoeuvre and the impact left little margin for recovery. The pilot, a seasoned Indian Air Force officer, could not eject in time and was fatally injured.

In aviation, negative G refers to a condition where the forces acting on the aircraft and its occupants oppose the pull of normal gravity. During a negative G turn or inverted manoeuvre, the pilot experiences sensations of weightlessness or the feeling of being lifted out of the seat.

Blood tends to rush towards the head, creating physiological stress that can impair vision and reaction speed. Such conditions require considerable skill, precise control inputs, and strong situational awareness. Even small misjudgements during a high-performance display can rapidly turn fatal.

The TEJAS, developed as India’s first indigenous multirole fighter, is designed to be aerodynamically unstable to enhance agility and responsiveness. This instability, however, demands a sophisticated fly-by-wire system that continuously makes fine control adjustments to maintain stability during flight.

The system replaces traditional mechanical controls with computer-mediated commands that interpret the pilot’s inputs, ensuring stability even during extreme manoeuvres. Any anomaly in the flight control software, sensor input, or g-loading during a negative G manoeuvre could cause abrupt deviations in pitch or roll.

Early observations indicate that the aircraft may have entered a zone of low energy or high angular momentum during recovery from the loop. Such conditions might have reduced available lift or delayed control response, leading to an unrecoverable descent.

In air shows, where pilots push performance envelopes to impress spectators, such sequences are meticulously planned and rehearsed. Yet even minor atmospheric or mechanical variations can upset the intended trajectory, especially in manoeuvres involving rapid transitions between positive and negative G.

The TEJAS involved in the crash belonged to a squadron based at Sulur in Tamil Nadu and had been in active service since 2016. The aircraft type has been widely regarded for its excellent reliability and safety track record in comparison with legacy platforms like the MiG‑21.

Before the Dubai incident, only one crash had occurred in over two decades of operation. That earlier mishap, recorded in Jaisalmer in 2024, happened more than twenty years after the aircraft’s maiden flight in 2001 — a record that reflected positively on its design and operational maturity.

For the Indian Air Force, the loss in Dubai represents a rare and tragic event during international display duties. TEJAS had been performing consistently at air shows and joint exercises, serving as a prominent example of India’s aerospace capabilities.

The inquiry now underway will scrutinise all aspects of the accident, including flight data records, pilot inputs, system performance, and possible environmental influences. Investigators will also consider how cockpit G‑awareness, flight control algorithms, and pilot workload interacted in the seconds leading to impact.

While the full picture will emerge only after a detailed technical investigation, the incident underscores both the complexity and risks inherent in high‑energy manoeuvres. It also highlights the precision required in managing negative G exposure and flight control limits in unstable‑platform fighters.

For India’s aerospace community, the loss serves as a sombre reminder that even aircraft with exemplary safety histories remain vulnerable when operating at the extremes of performance.

Based On NDTV Report