Amid reports that the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas of the Indian Air Force (IAF), developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), suffered major damage after the fighter jet overshot the runway at a frontline airbase following a suspected brake failure earlier in February, the state-owned company has come out with a clarification.
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In a series of tweets, the DPSU clarified that there was no crash involving the homegrown fighter and that it was a "minor technical incident on the ground."
"HAL acknowledges the recent media reports on the LCA Tejas incident and wishes to provide factual clarification. There has been no reported crash of the LCA Tejas. The event in question was a minor technical incident on the ground," the company said in a tweet.
In another tweet, HAL pointed out that LCA Tejas maintains one of the world’s best safety records among contemporary fighter aircraft.
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The incident in question was only the third in the history of the aircraft, which first took to the skies in January 2001.
"As a standard operating procedure, the issue is being analysed in depth, and HAL is working closely with the Indian Air Force (IAF) for a speedy resolution," the company further said in a tweet.
The clarification from the DPSU, tagging the IAF, Defence Ministry, and the Department of Defence Production, comes even as the IAF has not come out with an official statement about the incident in question.
Media reports had claimed that, in the wake of the incident, the IAF had grounded the entire fleet of around 30 single-engine multi-role fighter aircraft to carry out extensive technical scrutiny.
The reports of a Tejas aircraft involved in another crash come months after an LCA crashed during an aerial display at the Dubai Airshow. The first such incident involving a Tejas aircraft was in March 2024, when a Tejas jet crashed near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.