DM Monitoring
An Indian Tejas fighter jet crashed in a ball of fire in front of horrified spectators during an aerial display at the Dubai Airshow on Friday, and the Indian Air Force said it was setting up a court of inquiry to investigate the cause.
Footage from the site showed black smoke rising behind a fenced airstrip. Dubai’s government shared a photograph of firefighting teams dousing smouldering wreckage.
Jignesh Variya, 46, who was attending the show with his family, told Reuters the fighter jet had been flying for no more than eight or nine minutes and done two to three laps when it went into a nose-dive before crashing at around 2:15pm (1015 GMT).
“I could see three different fireballs when it collided with the ground,” he said. “Everybody in the crowd stood up there on their feet, and then maybe in around 30 seconds, the emergency vehicles rushed over to the location at the crash site.”
In a statement on X, the Indian Air Force confirmed the death of the pilot in the incident.
“An IAF Tejas aircraft met with an accident during an aerial display at [the] Dubai Air Show today. The pilot sustained fatal injuries in the accident,” the Air Force said.
“IAF deeply regrets the loss of life and stands firmly with the bereaved family in this time of grief,” the IAF posted. A court of inquiry is being constituted to ascertain the cause of the accident.”
India’s Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and all ranks of the Indian Armed Forces expressed their deep regret over the incident.
The incident occurred during a scheduled aerial display, which is part of the prestigious airshow attended by aviation companies and military delegations from around the world.
In a statement, the Dubai Media Office said that firefighting and emergency teams responded rapidly to the incident and are currently managing the situation on-site.
The Dubai Airshow administration announced that a complete investigation will be carried out into the crash. The airshow was resumed after a brief one-hour halt, with further aerial displays scheduled to be carried out.
Indian media said the Tejas fighter jet went down while performing an aerial manoeuvre at the event.
Dubai’s government shared a photograph of firefighting teams dousing a smouldering wreckage. It said emergency teams were managing the situation on-site.
Second known crash of Tejas
It was the second known crash of the fighter jet, which is built by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and powered by General Electric engines. The first crash was during an exercise in India in 2024.
The homegrown jet, whose name means “brilliance” in Sanskrit, is seen as crucial for India’s efforts to modernise its air force fleet of mainly Russian and ex-Soviet fighters.
The crash happened during the last day of the airshow, the Middle East’s largest aviation event, which started on Monday. Flying had resumed later on Friday, witnesses said, with jets back in the sky above the show site.
“A court of inquiry is being constituted to ascertain the cause of the accident,” the Indian Air Force said in a statement.
GE said in a statement it was ready to support the investigation.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of the Indian Air Force Tejas fighter jet at the Dubai Airshow and extend our heartfelt sympathies to the loved ones of the pilot,” a GE spokesperson said.
Hundreds of people were watching from a grandstand, while the apron was packed with planes, helicopters and other hardware on static display.
Thousands of people have attended the show this week, including aviation industry leaders and military officials.
Dubai is the world’s third largest airshow after Paris and Britain’s Farnborough, held in alternate years, and among the most international, with Chinese and Russian weapons represented, as well as aircraft from India and its regional rival, Pakistan. The accident was the first in the history of the airshow, which dates back to 1986.
India’s Tejas fighter jet
The Tejas fighter jet — designed as a light combat jet to replace the fleet of Russian MiG-21s — is India’s first indigenous fighter, taking its maiden flight in January 2001.
“It is the first fully domestic Indian fighter that is not based on foreign designs,” said British-based defence analyst Francis Tusa, adding that export interest so far had been limited. “There is work on a Tejas Mark II,” he said.
While the concept for a homegrown fighter aircraft began in the 1970s, actual work started on the aircraft project in the 1980s.
However, India’s state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) project for the fighter jet has faced years of criticism due to delays and cost overruns.
After years of delays, the first two Tejas fighter jets were finally handed over to the IAF in 2016.
India designates the single-engine jet as a multi-role light combat aircraft, featuring a delta-wing design.
HAL has reportedly equipped the modern variants with advanced avionics, an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, and enhanced electronic warfare systems.
According to Indian media outlets, the fighter jet can carry I-Derby extended-range (ER) and Astra beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missiles.
Tejas is reportedly also capable of firing short-range missiles such as the R-73, Python-5, and ASRAAM.
Recently, India signed a deal with United States’ General Electric to buy 113 engines to power its Tejas fighter jets, Reuters reported.
In a statement on November 7, HAL said that the deal was a follow-on order to power more of the fighters, with the engines expected to be delivered over five years from 2027.
The rollout of the fighter jet has been delayed due to slow deliveries from General Electric of 99 engines ordered in 2021, of which only four have arrived so far. GE has blamed supply chain issues following COVID-19.
