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Chandigarh: Over two weeks after a Tejas Mk1 Light Combat Aircraft met with an accident, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has yet to provide a full public account of what went wrong, even as it quietly grounded the indigenous fighter fleet for exhaustive checks — an implicit acknowledgment of the seriousness of the incident amid continued official silence.

The decision to suspend operations across both Tejas squadrons, comprising around 32 aircraft, including dual-seat trainers, underscores the gravity of the mishap, reportedly at a frontline IAF base in the north-west. Moreover, the absence of a clear explanation has only deepened unease within professional and strategic circles.

The mysterious incident occurred on February 7 but did not surface publicly until weekend media reports disclosed that the IAF’s Tejas fleet had been withdrawn from flying duties. Had those reports not flagged the grounding, the episode might well have passed without scrutiny — a remarkable prospect for a frontline combat platform central to India’s military aviation ambitions. Such opacity could also complicate the Tejas export push, as prospective buyers tend to value transparency and institutional candour as much as technical capability and price.

Grounding the entire Tejas fleet is a serious operational measure, as such action typically suggests that authorities are probing potential systemic concerns rather than treating the episode as a minor, isolated event. Yet despite the scale of this response, the IAF has remained silent on the specifics of the February 7 incident, the status of the affected aircraft, or the likely duration of the fleet-wide suspension.

‘A minor technical incident’

Instead, it was Tejas manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) that confirmed the grounding, stating that checks across multiple systems were underway. A day after media reports highlighted the development, HAL posted on X on February 23 that what was being described as a crash was in fact a “minor technical incident on ground and not an accident,” without offering further details.

It added that, as part of standard operating procedure, the matter was under detailed analysis, while again declining to elaborate. HAL also underscored the Tejas’s “strong safety record” and said it was working with the IAF towards resolving the unspecified issue.

In this instance, the line between an “incident” and an “accident” appears carefully calibrated. The terminology leaves the event suspended somewhere between routine malfunction and serious occurrence – vague enough to temper concern yet imprecise enough to sustain doubt.

“This inversion of roles – with the manufacturer speaking on the Tejas incident, while the operator remains silent – has drawn attention in defence circles,” said a three-star IAF veteran fighter pilot, who declined to be named. Transparency in military aviation, he noted, does not entail........

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