Less than ten days ago Indian female President Pratibha Patil flew in a Sukhoi fighter plane. A day back, one of the Sukhoi’s crashed, but, fortunately, the pilot bailed safely. Now the entire fleet of Sukhoi 30s has been grounded as a standard operating procedure by the Indian Air Force HQ.

The Sukhoi fighters are India’s top of the range combat planes and they have been generally accident free, unlike the Mig fighter jets.The Sukhoi has crashed once before – in April 2009.

Sukhoi Fighet aircrafts were inducted in 1996 by the Indian Air Force. Now after the second case of crash in six months, thorough checks will be conducted on the complete fleet before operations are resumed.

The Sukhoi crash in April was a fault in the fly-by-wire mechanism and the recent crash is blamed on the engine catching fire. This seems to have created a few anxieties among the IAF (Indian Air Force) bosses, who have ordered complete grounding of the 100-strong fleet of Sukhoi’s.

This crash could not have come at a more critical time as India is poised to induct over 150 Sukhois over the next five years. It has made an inspection of the faults in the existing fleet mandatory.

Boeing’s Cargo mammoth C-17 is perhaps one of the last things you thought would trouble Barack Obama.

The Real Issue

Boeing’s C-17 cargo aircraft costs $250 million apiece. The Pentagon has stated that it has plenty of these C-17s and does not require more. But Barack Obama will have to think more than twice before he kills the manufacturing of these C-17 aircrafts.

Boeing has spread the manufacturing of C-17 across 43 states. In all, the C-17 plants provides employment to more than 30,000 people.

The senate has already sanctioned over $2.5 billion for 10 more C-17 cargo aircrafts for the year 2010. This implies the US will increase its C-17 fleet to 215 units.

The C-17 has been a faithful and reliable aircraft for the US defense and Pentagon. It has been used heavily since 1993 to transport troops, tanks, and supplies. They were used in Iraq and are also in Afghanistan.